A New Recruit
by WeAreAllMadeOfStars
Summary: Ayla's life is completely changed when she's stolen from an orphanage and into a life in the intelligence service at CHERUB. She meets friends, makes enemies, falls in and out of love and most importantly, travels on missions that could even save the entire world. 6,400 VIEWS! THANK YOU!
1. Run

**Author's Note: Hey everyone, hope you enjoy this first chapter. It's my first story on here so I'm going to keep posting chapters anyway but it would be great if you could read & review to make me feel better! Thanks to anyone who reads this :)**

**Read my blog - search 'writing under these lights in my room'**

1. RUN

One girl pulled away from the leading pack, just 200m from the finish line. Her legs raced at a tempo that couldn't be matched by the other runners. It looked like they were a different part of her body, moving at an increasing rate to carry her to the end. The others looked fatigued and ready to stop, but it seemed that the previous 4,800m had been just a warm-up to the girl who was just crossing the finish. She stopped immediately, shaking out her legs and brushing fly-away strands of blonde hair from her face. Her breathing was not especially fast, and she watched the others complete the race unable to hide a slight smile. There were no spectators except students from the local school, but she still received a quiet ovation as she pulled off her battered grey spikes and hugged another girl at the side of the track who had been watching.

'Nice one,' she smiled with a wink, 'they didn't see your finish coming at all.'

'I can't believe I've won another! Come on, we'll be late for dinner.' the winner pulled her friend through the small crowd, not at all tired. They crossed a quiet road and walked along the pavement towards a red brick building that stood out among the white-washed houses. The runner was carrying her spikes and walking in her socks.

'You could be big one day.' remarked the smaller, auburn haired girl to her friend. She shook her head.

'Not if I don't get out of this place.' she sighed, gesturing to the area. 'You think the orphanage handlers would let me join a running club? They just want me outta there.'

They walked on in silence, signifying that they were new friends and did not yet know each other well enough to talk for hours.

'Ayla, do you want to get out of here?' asked the smaller girl. Ayla flicked a rubber band into the unplanted dirt outside the brick building where they had stopped and stared upwards.

'Of course,' Ayla said with folded arms, and added in an undertone, 'after all, you only live once.'

They walked up the steps to the front door, each with thoughts travelling in opposite directions. The peeling door was immediately opened by a sharp-eyed handler.

'Ayla. Lydia. Where have you two been, again?' he asked with a shake of the head. 'Every evening, it's like you do something after school. You're meant to be doing homework here. Do you want me to walk home with you?'

'This is not my home.' muttered Ayla to herself, unaware that Lydia could hear her. Lydia stepped in with an excuse.

'We had to buy some stuff…from the shops.' she said carefully.

'That's alright, I guess, but you don't need to every night. Just come straight back tomorrow. Lydia, don't catch on to this girl's roguish behaviour just because you're new here.' he said, gesturing to Ayla.

The handler ran a hand through his short brown hair and sighed as Ayla and Lydia crept past him to their rooms up the old wooden stairs. Ayla fell onto her bed as soon as she had locked the door of her bedroom. Every evening getting back to the crappy children's home was a bigger let down than the last. She supposed that running in the 5k race each night was making her believe she deserved better than this. But after all, it was her that got abandoned as a baby, and her that was useless and worthless. Winning a race was not going to change that, no matter how much faster she got and how much further she won by each time. To calm down she pulled an old blue brush through her hair. Once again she wished she had an iPod like some of the children at her state school, not only for relaxing, but because running while mentally playing songs was starting to bore her.

She put her spikes carefully down inside a shoebox that looked as old as them, and put that under her bed. Her room was small, the bed taking up most of the space. She had a chest of drawers with some school books and pens piled on top. It looked as though she could leave at any second and all her belongings would be ready to be swept into a bag. Suddenly she jumped up and kicked her bed in frustration, punching her skinny thighs as hard as she could. Why couldn't she get out of here? She could easily climb out of a window and run, leaving this chapter of her life behind. But she sensed hope coming, a change for the better coming for her soon. As if on cue, there was a knock on her door.

'Come in,' she called. Lydia entered carefully, avoiding the sharp corner of the chest of drawers.

'Hey,' Lydia smiled, 'there's someone here to see you.'

'What do you mean?' asked Ayla, confused. A foster parent or what? Lydia just nodded towards the door. A tall woman in a skirt suit with short dark hair entered Ayla's room, looking thoroughly out of place. Lydia sat down next to Ayla on the bed, while the woman leant on the plain walls of the room after shutting the door.

'Hi, Ayla. I'm Jennifer Mitchum. I'm, well, interested in adopting you.' She masked her cautious expression with a smile. 'I just have some questions first.' she added in her business-like tone.

'Go ahead.' Ayla stared at her with large, watchful eyes.

'Firstly, how would you feel about coming to live with me and my partner? Would it bother you to leave this place?' she asked.

'I can't wait to leave this place…it's awful.' Ayla said with great feeling.

'OK. And would you mind moving around a bit? My husband's job means that we will have to stay in other places even if we're based in one house.' Jennifer said, watching Ayla carefully.

'That's cool. I just want to be out of here.' she said. 'Wait a second, why is Lydia in here too? Are you gonna adopt both of us?'

Jennifer looked at Lydia as though she had not realised Ayla would notice her there.

'Err…yes, maybe. We're thinking about it.' she said, blinking a little. Ayla knew this pretty much meant that Jennifer was lying, but did not question it in case there was a reason she did not know about. 'OK, we should go downstairs and fill out some adoption papers together if you want to do this?'

Ayla nodded and Jennifer motioned for her to leave the room first. As they were walking down the dark corridor towards the stairs, Jennifer stuck a needle into Ayla's arm from behind. The world around her melted into darkness so quickly and she did not even have time to scream before both Jennifer and Lydia had hurriedly dragged her somewhere else.

**A/N: Read my blog - search 'writing under these lights in my room' :) Thanks for reading, please review!**


	2. Tests

**Hey everyone, please review! If you're enjoying the story so far please let me know. I've got the whole plot on paper and I just need the incentive to keep writing it all down :) It will get more exciting, promise. Thanksss for reading!**

2. TESTS

Ayla woke up in the double bed of a modern and spacious room. She quickly realised she was only in her underwear and jumped out from under the duvet, frantically trying to remember what had happened. The only thing she could really recall was the feel of that needle sinking into her arm. She had never liked injections. Looking around, she noticed a neat stack of clean clothes next to the bed. She examined them quickly then put on an orange T-shirt marked CHERUB with a stencilled picture of a cherub in army gear on top of a globe. Shrugging, she put on khaki cargo trousers, socks and shiny black boots.

She felt a bit more prepared for wherever she was, and walked around the room. Outside the window she could see football pitches and what looked like a compound in a forest in the distance. The place was massive and she immediately liked it, even though she felt a little bit weird. She glanced into the bathroom and at the mini-fridge, admiring all the new things she had always wanted. Ayla decided to venture out of the room, expecting other rooms like in a hotel because of the view she had got of the outside. Sure enough there were about 7 other doors along the corridor outside. At the end of the corridor she spied a lift and stairs.

A boy walked past her, towards the lift. She pounced upon the chance to get some answers.

'Excuse me? Umm…I don't know where I am.' she said half-smiling.

'Can't talk to orange.' he said, turning around and pointing at her T-shirt. She looked down at the shirt and then back up at him desperately. He smiled and motioned for her to follow him as he pressed the lift button. She shut her door and walked over, and a second later the lift arrived. They got in and awkwardly waited as the doors closed and the lift sped down to the ground floor. When they stepped out he pointed at an office door and waved as he walked on. She knocked on the door and it opened quickly.

'Ah, are you Ayla?' said a friendly-looking woman with a short ponytail.

'Yeah…what's going on?' she said wide-eyed.

'Why don't you come in here and sit down, and we can talk.' she gestured to her office. Ayla followed her in and sat down in a leather chair on the other side of a desk to the woman. 'I'm Zara Asker, the Chairwoman of CHERUB campus. You can call me Zara.'

'Um…why was I drugged to get here?' she asked.

'I'll explain everything. I suppose this is a kind of children's home, but there's something different. If you want to stay here you have to agree to become an agent for the British Intelligence, and pass some entrance tests.'

'Sorry?'

'You would become a spy. This campus is part of the British Intelligence Service. We use children for things that adults can't do. Criminals sometimes use the same strategy; for example, imagine a man knocking on a woman's door at night. She would be suspicious, right? If he asked to come in because he was sick she'd call an ambulance but wouldn't let him inside.

'Now, think of the same woman coming to her door to see a young boy crying. My daddy's car crashed just up the street. He isn't moving. Please help me. She opens the door immediately, the boy's dad jumps out of hiding, whacks her over the head and runs off with all the money under her bed. Children are just much less suspicious. So, we use children to help catch criminals.'

'But why drug me? So I won't be able to tell anyone where we are?' Ayla asked.

'Exactly. We picked you after Lydia noticed you when she was on her recruitment mission at your orphanage.' Zara explained.

'Lydia's here?!' she exclaimed.

'Yes. You're physically fit, much more than most in fact: Lydia told me about your running. You're very intelligent, and best of all you were dying to get out of that orphanage.'

'Yeah, I was…So can I stay here?' she asked eagerly.

'Well, first you have to pass the entrance tests,' Zara winked. 'There are 5 parts and it will last the rest of today. Do you want to try?'

'Definitely.' she nodded.

Ten minutes later Zara and Ayla arrived outside a traditional dojo building. They stepped inside, and Ayla expected to see a karate class or something going on, but there was no one there.

'Almost everyone is at our summer hostel.' Zara explained, noticing her expression.

'Why wasn't Lydia?'

'Recruitment missions are like punishments…Lydia messed up big time on her last real mission.' said Zara, as though she would prefer not to talk about punishments yet. Ayla tactfully kept her mouth shut. Zara led her into a smaller side room with a springy blue floor. There was already a girl in there stretching. She had short, curly brown hair with eyes the exact same shade. Ayla smiled at her. What was she doing here? Were they going to have to fight?

'Ayla, this is Rose. She's the same age as you and is starting basic training in a couple of days, which is why she's still here. She's going to spar with you. Take off your shoes and socks.'

Rose came over and smiled broadly at Ayla.

'Rules,' Zara said. 'The first to win five submissions is the winner. An opponent can submit by speaking or by tapping her hand on the mat. Either opponent can withdraw from the bout at any time. You can do anything to get a submission except eye gouging. Got it?'

Both girls nodded. Zara handed Ayla a gum shield.

'Stand two metres apart and prepare for the first bout.'

The girls walked to the centre of the mat. Ayla decided to just try as hard as she could, even if Rose was really good.

'Fight,' said Zara.

Rose swung her fist quickly into Ayla's side. She doubled up, and Rose twisted her wrist around. It got so painful Ayla yelled, 'I submit.'

Rose let go and Ayla shook out her wrist. She was quick. Ayla decided to try a new approach, the kind that had led her to win every running race she'd ever entered. Act weak, and when push comes to shove come out on top.

'Ready?' asked Zara.

Both girls nodded. This time, when Rose first punched her, Ayla pretended it hurt her more than it did, while turning slightly to absorb the blow. She fell over and curled up as Rose moved in. Just before Rose could get a hit into her contorted face, Ayla exploded upwards with a kick to Rose's stomach. She flew backwards, winded, and crashed into the floor. Ayla got up, nervous because Rose didn't open her eyes.

Zara laughed; a tinkling sound in the tense silence of Ayla's nerves.

'Don't worry, Ayla, she's only knocked out. You've won the fight because she can't really withdraw now, can she? Are you ready for the next test?'

'Okay…' Ayla said, still completely bewildered at what she'd done.

'Help me carry her back to the golf cart.' As Ayla helped Zara lift Rose out of the dojo, she imagined everything she could do and become just by being here. She was sure she had passed the first test, but now she needed to excel on the others as well. This place was amazing and best of all, at CHERUB you could drive around on golf carts. Surely that was worth anything she could manage to do.

The next test was in a small but modern room, one of the classrooms, Ayla supposed. It had white cupboards and a SMART board at the front. The desks were made of blue plastic, and lockers stood at the back of the room to keep books inside. She was at a desk right in the centre, with Zara at the teacher's desk working on the computer. Ayla couldn't have cheated even if she'd wanted to, because she didn't have a mobile phone, not even back at the orphanage.

At the start of the test Ayla's nerves got to her and she could barely keep her pen still in her shaking hand as she studied the questions. After around fifteen minutes she'd calmed down and proceeded to fill out the answer spaces in slanted, messy handwriting. The paper lasted for forty-five minutes and was a mixture of different questions, including Maths, English and General Knowledge. There were also some non-verbal and verbal ones, that Ayla actually enjoyed answering. By the penultimate page she was struggling on the questions and was almost relieved when Zara told her to stop, because she could switch off her brain. She hadn't finished the last page but she'd answered everything else.

'Alright? Ready for the next one?' Zara asked her.

Ayla realised her stomach was aching badly from Rose's first punch, and her left wrist was slightly out of shape. She hadn't noticed during the exam because she had been so nervous. But she didn't want to do or say anything that would kill her chances of staying here, so she didn't complain.

'I'm fine.'

'We have enough time for one more, and then you can hit the cafeteria. There will be two more after you have lunch.' Zara told her. Ayla nodded, and Zara led her to another room. Ayla assumed it was an office, because it was so small, but it only had a desk with a metal cage on top and two chairs on either side of the desk. Zara took the furthest away one so Ayla sat down in the one closer to the door.

As soon as she sat down she realised there was an animal in the cage.


	3. Strengths

**Author's Note: Hey, I've had like 9 views so far! Woop woop! I just wish someone would review! Here's Chapter Three, hope you like it. If you don't you can still review! ;) Next chapter should be up later todayyy**

3. STRENGTHS

It was a small white rabbit with long, fluffy ears. Ayla looked at it, confused, across the table from Zara. What did this have to do with anything?

'This is Duster.' Zara told her.

'Um, hey, Duster.' Ayla said awkwardly to the rabbit, lacking anything else to say. Zara smiled at her, and then her expression turned hard.

'I just need you to kill the bunny, and then you can get lunch.'

'Excuse me?' Ayla asked her, mouth agape.

'You can use this pencil to stab through the throat. I'll take Duster out of this cage.' Zara said, handing her a pencil and starting to fumble with the cage fastenings.

'No, no. I can't.' Ayla stared at the rabbit, holding the pencil as though it were a bomb.

'What's wrong?' asked Zara, still opening the cage.

Ayla rubbed her eyes, unable to believe she was about to through away her chance to be here. But she couldn't kill something in cold blood like this, she just couldn't.

'I'm sorry…I can't kill it.' she admitted, looking at the floor. Zara shrugged.

'Not if I pay you?'

'I can't.'

'This is your only chance to get into CHERUB, Ayla.' Zara said.

'I…I can't.' she said stubbornly, squeezing her eyes tight shut.

'Alright, then. If you're absolutely sure.'

'I am.'

'Then I'll see you in my office after your lunch for the next test. Cafeteria's on the ground floor.' Zara said, getting up. Ayla stood up too.

'It's funny, every time we've offered up Duster for a candidate to kill, they've refused.' Zara laughed.

Ayla found herself walking nervously into the canteen. Zara had told her that the only agents here were ones doing Basic Training in a few days, so if she miraculously made it through the rest of these tests then she would be joining them. There were only three other people in the canteen, eating in the middle at a table that would have sat six people. She supposed it was their usual table, but they were the only ones of the group still on campus. As Ayla got her food and came out to choose one of the many empty tables, a girl waved at her.

'Ayla, isn't it? Sit with us! Remember me?'

Ayla walked over and recognised the girl in a moment.

'You're Rose! Oh god, I'm so sorry about earlier…' Ayla trailed off, realising she was exceedingly happy that Rose wasn't dead after all.

'Hey, Ayla. Rose told us what you did. Pretty epic. I'm Rufus Tell.' said a curly-haired boy with an easy smile.

'I swear you're all not allowed to talk to me?' Ayla blurted out, confused. ''Cos I'm orange?'

They exchanged a grin.

'We're not meant to talk, but from what Rose and Lydia have told us you're definitely gonna pass these tests.' said the third person, a boy with side-swept brown hair and a strong jaw.

'Lydia? Are you friends with her too?'

'Yeah. She usually sits here,' Rose pointed next to her, 'but she's at the hostel, with everyone else. You'll do basic with us if you pass.'

'You mean WHEN she passes. You knocked Rose out? Awesome!' Rufus grinned.

'Let's not talk about me knocking Rose out…it wasn't my finest moment. What's your name, then?' Ayla asked the boy next to Rufus.

'Edward Warren. You can call me Ed, if you want.' he said.

'Cool,' Ayla nodded, finishing her food.

'You've got two more tests right?' Rose asked her.

Ayla nodded, looking more nervous.

'You'll be fine. Just think how you normally would.' Rufus said.

'Shh! If Zara finds out we talked to her…' Rose glared at Rufus.

'Okay, okay. Good luck, Ayla.' Rufus said as Ayla stood up and started walking away to put her tray back.

'Good luck!' called Rose and Edward one after the other. Ayla managed a smile just before she left the canteen. She turned left before the lift doors and found herself back in Zara's office.

'Brilliant, Ayla, you're early. How was your lunch?'

'The food was awesome.' said Ayla nervously; not wanting to let on that the others had talked to her so that they wouldn't get in trouble.

'Great. Follow me outside.'

Zara led her through the main building onto the masses of fields at the back of the buildings. As soon as Ayla realised where they were headed to she began to freak out. They were walking towards a wooden obstacle raised around twenty feet in the air. She could see jumps, planks and ladders that disappeared into the trees. She loved heights normally, but she'd never been on a high assault course and this one didn't seem to have any safety nets. She remembered what Rufus had told her before Rose stopped him. 'Just think how you normally would.' As long as she imagined there were safety nets, or if she was on the ground, she would be alright up there. And people would be going up with her, she realised with relief.

There were two teenagers a couple of years older than her waiting at the bottom of the obstacle; one girl and one boy. They must have just got back from missions or they wouldn't be here, Ayla realised. The girl looked tough: she was Asian with a dark ponytail and a steely gaze, while the boy was built like an Olympic sprinter. Zara introduced them once they were all beneath the obstacle. The girl's name was Mia and the boy was Eric.

They started the long first climb up a rope ladder with Ayla in the middle – the ladder was so wide that all three of them could fit on. She felt more confident with a body on either side of her, constantly encouraging her. When they got to the top, she had to slide along a pole to the next platform. Eric went first and waited on the other side, smiling at her.

Her nerves crawled into her throat as she looked at the thin metal pole. Then she realised that Zara too was watching from below, so she swallowed her nerves and tried to feel nothing at all. Within seconds she had reached the other side. She heard Zara's claps from beneath, and held herself a little higher as she leapt three jumps, each a metre and a half or so. Then there was another ladder, another pole and some planks. Finally they got to a longer platform.

'This is the last part.' encouraged Mia, and they reached the end of the last platform, now in the middle of the woods.

'You have to jump onto the blue crash mat.' said Eric, pointing to the bottom. Mia jumped off first, landing safely on the mat and called to them that she was fine. Ayla wasn't so worried about the jump. She loved the feeling of her stomach crawling into her throat and the adrenaline rush that came with high jumps. She'd been on some rollercoasters on an orphanage outing once, and the whole experience of dropping quickly left her hyper and wanting more. So she leapt off with enthusiasm and no help from Eric, landing fairly gracefully and rolling off onto the grass.

'Nice job, Ayla. Good luck on your last test.' said Mia, smiling at her as Eric made his jump. Then Zara came over.

'Well done. One more test.' was all she said to Ayla, and led her back across the fields towards a modern-looking building on the other side of campus. 'This is our own Aquatics Centre. We have a 50m racing pool, another 25m warm-up pool, a diving pool and a learner's pool. Today you'll be in the racing pool.'

Ayla shrugged and followed Zara inside. She went into the changing rooms and found a swimsuit and towel hanging up ready for her. Ayla changed quickly and went out of the door leading to the racing pool, according to a sign. She was surprised that Zara hadn't given her any goggles. The racing pool looked long, cold and wet, weirdly enough. There were diving blocks at both ends and all the lane ropes had been taken out. The pool was one depth the entire way – around 2 metres deep. Zara was waiting for her at the halfway marker, with Rufus.

Ayla was very surprised to see him but hid any recognition from her face. Rufus wasn't as good and grinned at her as Zara introduced them.

'So, we'll start with breath holding.' said Zara to Rufus. He led Ayla down to one of the ends, while Zara waited where she was.

'I need you to dive in off a block and swim as far as you can underwater.' said Rufus to her.

Ayla nodded, and he winked. 'It helps if you keep your eyes on the bottom of the pool.' he whispered.

She acted as though he hadn't spoken, and climbed up onto a block.

'Whenever you're ready.' said Rufus. She dived in clumsily. Ayla had only swum a few times with school, but she now had a much better lung capacity because of her running. She pulled her arms up and down in the water and kicked as hard as she could. Eventually, the pressure at her chest felt as though her eyes were going to pop out of her head, and she surfaced with a gasp. She had reached the 20m mark, just before where Zara was standing. Ayla jerkily swum to the edge of the pool and held on to the side.

'Now Ayla, get out as fast as you can and run a lap around the nearest field.' said Rufus, who was standing next to Zara. Ayla's body ached with tiredness, but at last they had asked her to display her real strength: running. She pulled herself out and Rufus yelled, 'Go!'

She ran to the door at the side, pulled it open and began to run, getting a bearing of how big the field was. She suspected the perimeter was about 2000m. She speeded up her strides, acutely aware of everything around her, the slight cold wind even in August, and the fact that she was still in her swimsuit. "Olympic athletes run in practically bikinis," she thought. "Of course I can do this."

She turned the final corner of the square field and sprinted back towards Rufus and Zara. As soon as she reached them Zara took her inside and gave her a towel and a small chocolate bar.

'Why don't you get changed, then go back to your room and have a shower? I'll call you back to my office when I've decided what's going to happen.' Zara smiled, and Ayla got a good feeling inside. Rufus gave her a discreet thumbs up behind Zara's back and she grinned as she walked back into the changing rooms.

Whatever happened in Zara's office, it would change her entire life.


	4. Basic

**Author's Note: Thank you to everyone who reads this! Please r&r! :)  
Disclaimer: Anything you recognise, I don't own!**

4. BASIC

Ayla left Zara's office feeling like the weight of the world was off her shoulders. She had been offered a place at CHERUB. She had accepted. At this very moment her possessions were being brought to the campus, because she hadn't wanted to say goodbye to the orphanage. She wouldn't miss it. They had been told that she was at a new children's home.

In the first test she had passed highly because she had barely been hurt and she had won. In the intelligence test she had achieved high marks especially in verbal questions. In the test with the rabbit she had passed because she wouldn't be persuaded to kill the rabbit, but she didn't pass highly because she was squeamish. In the obstacle test she had passed highly and finally in the last test she had done extremely well, beating the times of some runners at CHERUB who hadn't done 20m underwater beforehand. Zara knew she was an amazing runner, so she had wanted to see how good she was under pressure.

Now Ayla was headed to her new room. She had a new name – Ayla Adrian. She had wanted to be named after the current world's fastest 100m swimmer because of his endearing smile. Her new middle name was May. The next day she was due for a doctor's appointment, and the day after that she started Basic Training, but while she was free she could do whatever she wanted. Ayla decided to go and find the other trainees. She knew Edward's room was on her floor because he was the person who had directed her to Zara's office when she had first come out of her room. So Ayla went up in the lift to her floor, and began to knock on each door. Finally, at the one second from the end Rose opened up. She was wearing a purple bathrobe and had a hair turban on.

'Hey, Rose! I'm in!' Ayla exclaimed.

'I told you so!' was all she seemed to be able to say for a while, as they hugged.

'I really am sorry about knocking you out.' said Ayla, laughing.

'Don't worry! I may have a bruise, but I also have a feeling we'll get a lot worse in Basic Training.' said Rose grimacing.

Ayla's stomach flipped at the very thought. 'We'll be fine. So it's just us, Rufus and Ed?'

'Yep.' Rose confirmed. 'Lyddie's already done basic, and so has Theo.'

'Theo?' Ayla asked.

'Theo Bond. He's another of our friends.'

'So how many people are there in our year?' Ayla asked as she followed Rose into the room.

'Hmm…about 20? Yeah, there are 17. We all are in the same class for English and Maths, and then we are split into halves for all the other subjects. What GCSEs are you doing?' Rose asked.

'Cool. I'm doing…English Literature and Language, Maths, triple Science, French, Russian, Spanish and Art.' Ayla ticked off.

'I'll be in quite a lot of your classes, then. Wait, what's your new surname?'

'Adrian.' said Ayla.

'Ooh, yeah! My surname's Baptiste, so we'll be in all the half classes together that we both do!' Rose grinned.

'Great! Oh, by the way, I have a doctor's appointment tomorrow. Is that bad?' asked Ayla.

Rose laughed.

'Well…it's basically to test your fitness and make sure you're operating okay…but there are also the jabs.'

'Oh, well. I'll cope.'

'I'm scared of needles…I didn't cope very well.' Rose reminisced, and Ayla laughed.

'So where are the boys?'

'Rufus is out running and Ed's having a shower.' she explained.

'Out running?' asked Ayla, interested.

'Yeah, there's a track. Oh, you like running, don't you?' Rose remembered from what Lydia had obviously told her.

'Yeah, I do.' Ayla smiled, embarrassed.

'Well there's a running club here, so you're good. When we're back from Basic Training you can join. I think Rufus is going to start as well.'

The rest of the evening passed quickly, with Rose telling Ayla everything there was to know about campus. She described the work, the people, the evenings, even the vacations to the summer hostel. Rose told her about their year, all the gossip and chatter going around, and any other years that were of interest to her. And best of all, Ayla felt like she'd finally got a friend. It was a first for her. She wasn't sure if Lydia had just been pretending to buddy with her for her mission, or what. But Rose seemed to genuinely like her, and they got on really well. Eventually Ayla worked up the courage to ask Rose what was on her mind.

'Does Lydia actually like me? Or was she just pretending for the mission? Ayla asked carefully. Rose immediately laughed.

'No, no! What?! Lydia picked you to come here! Why would she pick someone she didn't like?' Rose exclaimed.

'Oh!' Ayla grinned. 'I thought Zara or someone else picked me and she was just making friends with me!'

'No, silly! Of course she likes you. Us three are going to be so tight once we've done Basic Training.' Rose smiled in anticipation.

The next few hours were a blur. It got so late that the girls couldn't go down to eat at the canteen because it was closed, so they had to heat some food from Rose's mini-fridge up in the microwave in the kitchen for their floor. But after a while Ayla had to go back to her room and sleep. As soon as she came in she spotted the pile of her possessions from the orphanage which someone had left on the floor next to her chest of drawers. She immediately found the cardboard box with her spikes in it, and placed that on top of her bedside table. She would go running in the morning, she promised herself. And just like that, Ayla fell asleep.

Early the next morning Ayla awoke to an alarm she didn't realise she had even set. It was 6:15am. She groaned and crawled out of bed, threw on some shorts and a CHERUB blue trainee T-Shirt, then left her room with her spikes in hand. She jogged down the stairs as a warm-up and then exited the building via some doors in the corridor on the ground floor. The air was crisp and a cool breeze brushed her face. The treetops at the edges of the fields shook slightly in the wind. It looked like they were thousands of little green birds fluttering their wings. The sky was white, with grey clouds floating around and Ayla could see shapes in them. There was a crocodile and the tide coming into the beach. Everything looked quite sad, maybe because it was nearly the end of summer.

Before she knew it, she was running. Flat out to the next field, then the next and the next until she reached a fence. There was a sign on it that read 'Training Compound. Do not enter.' Ayla gulped and backed away, knowing that she would be in there for one hundred days soon enough. Even the thought completely scared her. Then she was sprinting back towards the main building. The air rushed past her face and whipped back her hair. She kept running for at least half an hour, covering the distance between the compound and the main building several times over. She spotted a huge clock on the wall of one of the buildings and realised the time. She needed to be at her doctor's appointment in about an hour.

After showering and changing, Ayla knocked on Rose's door. She too was fully dressed.

'Rose, I'm going down for breakfast now, then the doctor's. Want to come?'

'Sure! I'm so hungry. I can't come to your doctor's appointment though; I have to catch up on some homework.' Rose came out into the corridor. 'I'll get Rufy and Ed, see if they wanna come.'

'Cool.' Ayla nodded, and followed Rose to knock on each of the boys' rooms. Edward was in the room opposite the lift doors at the end, and Rufus was in the room next to Ayla's and opposite Rose's. Both boys agreed to go and eat breakfast, both being starving.

Breakfast passed with lots of laughing. Ayla liked Rufus and Edward, they were pretty cool. They were also nice, which was unusual because at fifteen years old boys were often annoying. Of course, Ayla was still fourteen, because as she realised at breakfast her birthday would be during Basic Training. She would turn fifteen in mid-August, during the first two weeks or so of training. Rose, Rufus and Edward were all fifteen already and Rufus had been so since the last November.

The doctor's appointment passed quickly, and Ayla could barely remember much that happened perhaps because she had blocked it from her mind seeing as there were so many injections. The boys had come along to watch and help her get through the pain ('Good luck with that,' Rose said sarcastically), but surprisingly they were on their best behaviour.

But the Wednesday came too quickly. All too soon, Ayla found herself waking up at 5:15am and putting on the blue T-shirt and cargo pants. Rose, Rufus and Edward all waited for her in their corridor and they jogged outside together. When they reached the training compound, they all took a long look at each other in nervousness. It was as though they thought they'd never see each other alive again. Then Rufus pushed forward and the gate of the enclosure creaked open.

**Author's Note: Ooh sorry for the cliffhanger! Don't worry the next chapter will be up soon because it's the weeekeeendddd ! please rate and review people, thank ya!**


	5. Hard

**Author's Note: Hope you enjoy this chapter, please r&r! **

**Disclaimer: I don't own CHERUB.**

5. HARD

The training building was just off the centre of the entire enclosure, which consisted half of forest and half of mud. There were no windows and no electricity. Inside, the room had four beds that looked as though they had been through a heck of a lot. The head instructor was called Speaks, Rose had told Ayla. He was huge, black and looked like he had been weight-lifting since he was ten. The way he looked at the new trainees reminded Ayla of a shark watching some unsuspecting minnows. His assistant was Smoke, who looked like the female version of a bulldozer. Neither instructor moved as the four trainees entered the room and went to stand next to a bed. Ayla got the bed at the end of the room, which she was pleased about because it was as far away from the instructors as possible.

'I know two of you are new, so before I get on with my welcome speech I'll have to introduce myself.' Speaks began. Ayla cast a confused look down the line at Rose next to her. Who else was new? Rose seemed to understand, because she nodded her head at Rufus and mouthed "He's been here for 2 weeks".

Unfortunately Speaks saw the whole of their silent exchange. 'I'll say it quickly, as some of you seem to be confused as to why you're not working hard yet. I'm Speaks and this is Smoke. Now, as numbers 4 and 2 seem to be so impatient, why don't you all pop outside and run through the assault course in pairs?' He gave them all a nice, welcoming grin before they went outside, shivering in the early air.

'Why don't numbers 4 and 2 do the assault course barefoot, because they're so eager?' asked Smoke rhetorically, giving Ayla and Rose a sweet smile. They took off their trainers and shivered from the cold mud underneath their feet. Ayla paired with Edward; number 3, and Rose paired with Rufus, who was number 1. Smoke led them to the start of the assault course, while Speaks went back into the training building to watch their progress on the CCTV cameras.

'Why haven't you done this yet?' Ayla whispered to Edward as they walked over. He glanced at Smoke before replying

'I wasn't fit enough, apparently…I mean, I'm really strong but I'm crap at running.' he explained quietly.

'Oh,' Ayla said. She hadn't realised you had to be fit to do basic training, she had just assumed they let you in as long as you were willing to do it. They reached the assault course, and waited for two minutes as Rose and Rufus set off wading waist deep through the mud filled tunnel. If that was the first obstacle, Ayla was nervous to see what the others were.

'Off you go.' Smoke said after what felt like an age. Ayla and Edward glanced at each other and then plunged into the mud, using the slimy walls of the tunnel to push themselves through the gunk. When they emerged on the other side as the sun came up, Ayla blinked. She hadn't realised the course would be this large. There were obstacles spread out, even a zip wire going through a valley, and then a track going up the other side of the valley which she assumed they had to run up. She and Edward ran to the next numbered obstacle, feeling almost pumped for this in the cool morning air and brilliant sunlight. All they needed was some Eminem blasting out of speakers and Ayla would be happy to do this. It was only the first day, they weren't exhausted just yet. At the end of the zip wire Ayla felt weightless, but then they had to swim across a freezing lake to get to the dirt track and the other side of the valley.

'Can you swim?' Ayla checked quickly with Edward. He nodded nervously.

'Of course, just not well. You have to be able to swim 50 metres to do basic.'

'Well we'll manage.' she smiled. They slid into the lake and began to swim clumsily. Neither of them had particularly good strokes, but Ayla's legs were strong from running and Edward was strong anyway. On the other side of the lake she looked up at the track and grinned. He saw her and gulped.

'I'm really not good at running.' he said.

'I'll help you.' she said, and they began to jog up the hill. When Ayla judged that Edward could go faster she sped up, and when he slowed so did she. At the top of the track Rufus, Rose and Smoke were waiting.

'I'm sure Speaks will want to do his welcome speech now that you lot are warmed up.' Smoke announced to the trainees. They were shivering in sodden T-shirts and shorts, and Ayla and Rose's feet were killing from the barefoot run. Inside the training building Speaks was waiting with a board. He began to describe their daily schedule, pointing with his finger at each point during their day written on the board as he spoke.

'Well, you still have one hundred days left, girls and boys. You won't get a day off for a single one of those, and neither will Smoke and I, although we won't be tired, cold and hungry every day. You will wake up at 0545. Shower, dress, assault course. At 0700 you will eat breakfast and then do physical training for 2 hours. School starts at 0900. At 1400 you run the assault course again. 1500 is lunch. At 1600 you get 2 more hours of physical training, then 1800 you get another shower, wash clothes, polish boots etc. You get your dinner at 1900, then homework from 1930 to 2030, and finally you go to sleep at 2045. Clear?' Speaks didn't wait for any of the trainees to protest; he knew from experience that at this point they were all dumbstruck. 'You finished the assault course in a not too terrible time, so you can all have some breakfast.'

Smoke threw each trainee a small box of cereal each, followed by a tiny carton of milk. Ayla immediately opened hers and inhaled everything within moments. Speaks snorted at her. 'You're going to be a lot hungrier during the next one hundred days. Get used to it.'

Ayla exchanged a nervous glance with Edward and this time Speaks laughed out loud. 'You can leave whenever you want, number 4. These fences are keeping your friends out, not you in. You'll just have to start this again from day number 1. Remember, if you get a serious enough injury, you'll have to leave the compound and start again from day 1. On that happy note, shall we do some physical training?'

Physical training was absolute hell. The only way Ayla could get through it was by imagining how much better at running she would be after making it through all this. She almost forgot that she would also be able to go on missions.

On the tenth day or so, several of them threw up from exhaustion. The first time Ayla threw up was the twelfth day, and she almost stopped doing press-ups.

'Ayla! Keep fricking going, goddammit!' Edward whispered. She managed to straighten her arms again, and then kept going. By the twentieth day Edward was able to keep up with Ayla on the final run up the hill of the assault course. She began to do a sprint finish each time, and Smoke even seemed pleased with her.

The lessons in the middle of the day were the best part of each day. There was Espionage, Language, Weaponry, Karate and Survival Skills. Ayla enjoyed language best because she was learning Russian, which had struck her as an awesome language from the first lesson. Espionage was all gadgets and electronic listening. Ayla's favourite gadgets were the tiny bugs that looked like circular stickers. You could stick them on anything and they came in different textures so that they would blend in with whatever you stuck them on. The shooting and explosives lessons freaked out both Rose and her a little more than necessary, while they were the boys' favourite lessons. Survival Skills was completely different to the other classes; it was taught outside at around midday which was the warmest part of the day. Both Speaks and Smoke showed the trainees how to build shelters and hunt, and sometimes they even got to eat the animals they cooked up. Extra food was rare but the trainees relished the opportunities to get it.

Karate was also a good lesson for Ayla. Her natural ability to dodge and throw surprise kicks was evenly matched by Edward's brute strength. Every lesson was the same; learn a move and practice it, go over old moves, then finish by sparring. Edward usually won their spars, mainly because he had been doing Karate as a red shirt for much longer than Ayla. All the same, they both went easy on each other, but not so much that the instructors would notice. Every day blurred because they always had the same schedule, which was occasionally messed up by the instructors with an especially hard exercise or a day off lessons, which meant a day of physical training instead.

On the seventieth day, the instructors decided to send everyone on a hunt in the dark in pairs, racing from checkpoint to checkpoint within the forest. It was pitch black and the trees were close together. Ayla and Edward found the final checkpoint and started jogging back to the training building.

'If you aren't back within one minute, you're sleeping outside in the cold tonight!' called Speaks through a megaphone. Ayla and Edward could not yet see the building, so they started to sprint. Suddenly, Ayla's foot went straight into the gap between a tree root and the ground. Her ankle twisted around and she bit down on her scream. Edward realised she'd stopped running and turned back.

'It's ok, I'm coming.' she whispered, trying to keep the pain out of her voice. Tears oozed out of the sides of her eyes as she put weight on the ankle and ran behind Edward. They reached the instructors with 5 seconds to go.

'Cutting it fine, numbers 3 and 4. Get inside.' said Speaks through his megaphone, straight into Edward's ear. He winced and they walked inside.

'Why did you stop running?' Edward asked her, once they were in the room. Rose and Rufus were just getting changed.

'Hit a tree root.' she muttered, and sat down heavily on her bed. Her ankle was throbbing.

'Ayla, what's wrong?' Rufus asked. He had an uncanny knack for knowing when she wasn't feeling good. Ayla lifted her foot onto Edward's bed. The three trainees gasped when they saw her ankle, twisted the wrong way.

'God, Ayla! What should we do?' Rose asked Edward, being the best one with injuries. Rose knew without asking that Ayla wasn't going to go to the medical centre, for fear of being kicked off Basic Training.

'Rufus, can you sneak out to get ice from the cooler next door?' he asked rhetorically, staring at Ayla's ankle.

'I'll get your back.' said Rose automatically, walking to the door as Rufus left. When he came back with ice, Edward and Rose carefully pulled off Ayla's boot and cooled down her ankle with the ice.

'You're going to keep going, aren't you.' Rufus said. It wasn't a question.

Ayla nodded, tears pooling in her eyes again.

'Thanks, guys. I'm going to get some sleep.'

The others gave her the ice and all four trainees went to bed. A silent pact was formed that night. Protect Ayla's ankle, and get all four of themselves through the last thirty days.

**Author's Note: Wow, these kids are tough. Please r&r! xo**


	6. Sand

**Author's Note: Yahoo! I have my first official review by someone who isn't a guest! THANK YOU to TimeKid, who obviously loves Doctor Who, as do I! Just watched it! Matt Smith is beautiful! Anyway, I was really hyper after receiving your review because you complimented my story J As for your question, well, this is my version of CHERUB and seeing as I'm pretty crappy at writing from an 11 year old's point of view, I decided to write from someone my age's view. And also change the age limit for Basic Training at CHERUB. So yeah! Here's the next chapter, it's the leading chapter to the big one so it's not so exciting… Thanks to all for reading! Please r&r! xx**

6. SAND

At the start of every day following Ayla's ankle injury, everyone helped her put on her boots after at least 5 minutes with ice on her ankle. Every day was a challenge harder than she could have ever expected, every day pain shot up her leg, and everyday Edward had to take some of the weights in her backpack that they carried when they did the assault course. Ayla had always counted herself as someone who heals quickly – she had never broken a bone, only sprained her finger once, and when everyone thought she had broken her nose it had straightened out in less than a week. So it was hardly a surprise to her when the agony in her ankle lessened, and she started to grow stronger again. It was as though the injury was a part of her and just made her that much better at what she did.

On the ninety-seventh day Speaks woke them up at 2am. He said that the four trainees would be going on the final survival course, abroad. Ayla's ears perked up when he mentioned that it was abroad. She hoped it wasn't somewhere freezing cold, as Rose had said Lydia's was. But they had to catch a flight very soon, so Speaks, Smoke and the four teenagers squished into Speaks'

Rose and Ayla sat together in the second row, glad to finally have a chance to relax and talk. Speaks and Smoke sat in the front while Rufus and Ed sat in the back.

'By the way, how's your ankle?' Rose whispered to Ayla.

'It's…healing. Do you know where we're going?' Ayla asked, louder, changing the subject.

'No, I don't. But to be honest I'm too scared to ask.' Rose smiled.

'Me too! But I hope it isn't cold.'

Speaks let out a scarily loud laugh at the front of the car.

'Trust me; you won't be worrying about the cold where you're going.' Smoke told the girls.

'Oh, balls! I forgot it's August, so if we go somewhere hot we're going to burn so much…' Ayla exclaimed, clapping her hand to her head.

All four trainees bowed their heads in thought.

'On the plus side, we're going to get intense tans.' Rufus added.

Everyone groaned.

The trainees were taken to Heathrow for their flight. As soon as they could, the teenagers found out where they were going to. They had been betting on places like Brazil, but no one guessed where they were actually going. The flight to Cairo would last 5 hours. Ayla was much more excited than everyone else, because unlike them she'd never been on a plane before. Best of all, Speaks had got them all in business class and Ayla had never sat in a comfier seat in her life. Rose was on her right on the other side of a partition, and Rufus was on her other side. Edward was on the right of Rose.

'Do they have films on this thing?' Ayla asked Rufus, because Rose was asleep. When he didn't answer she yanked down the partition and realised he was wearing his Beats. She waved at him and he quickly took them off.

'What's up?' he grinned.

'Can you watch films on this screen?' she asked again, jabbing her finger at the flat screen in front of her seat.

'Sure! Just turn it on,' he said, and when she looked clueless, 'use the bloody remote. It's there, on your armrest.'

She laughed and turned on the television. Rufus was about to put his headphones back on when she interrupted him.

'Wait a sec! Can I try on your headphones? I really want an iPod.' she asked.

'Oh, right yeah. Here.' he said, and passed them to her. She carefully placed them over her ears.

'Play a song?' she asked loudly, because she couldn't hear anything outside the headphones. Rufus laughed and put a finger to his lips before pressing play. Something she didn't recognise began to play. Maybe, U2? But the music reverberated around her brain and she grinned widely. She definitely needed a set of these and an iPod to use when she went running. Only four more days, and she would be able to get her ankle fixed up without worrying about the consequences. Only four more days, and she would be able to run almost whenever she wanted. Only four more days, and she would be a CHERUB agent.

She took off the Beats and passed them back to Rufus. Ayla passed the rest of the flight watching a couple of old films and gaining about an hour of sleep. They touched down in Cairo when it was still early. The city was much more modern than Ayla had expected, with white skyscrapers and a perfectly clear blue sky. Speaks and Smoke led the trainees to a large taxi, which they took to the coolest hotel Ayla had ever stood outside. It was what seemed like fifty stories high, with a million huge windows and a sign saying that there was a pool on the roof. Ayla had to read that again. A pool…on the roof!

Fortunately Ayla and Rose were sharing a room, because both girls thought it would be a little awkward to be sharing a room with either of the boys at their age. They each had a queen-sized bed and the bathroom was massive. Speaks called for a meeting in the corridor of their floor, and the trainees were told that they could do whatever they wanted for the day so long as they stayed in the hotel, but should be asleep earlier than usual , because they would be driving for a long time the next day. Ayla grinned at the thought. If today was a day off (and Speaks had said they would get none), and tomorrow they would be driving for a long time, then they would only have days 99 and 100 to get through!

Ayla and Rose passed their day in and out of the pool, trying to gain a sun tan. The boys pointed out that they would get a tan much more easily if they were going to the desert next, so what was the point? Ayla told them that she wasn't going to walk around in the desert in a bikini, thank you very much. They had a huge Egyptian-style lunch, listened to Rufus' taste in music, and eventually crashed out fast asleep at 6pm.

At 7am the instructors woke the girls up and they all went to a shuttle van outside the hotel. Ayla had to sit next to Edward, because they were given huge backpacks and briefings in Russian, and would be dropped in the desert separately to Rose and Rufus. There was a partition between the two pairs of trainees so that they couldn't work together on deciphering the briefings and working out what to leave behind. Eventually Ayla and Edward had sorted everything out, and Ayla nervously decided to stare out of the window and think instead. All she could see was sand, sand and sand, stretching out to the horizon. This was going to be interesting.


	7. Spinning

**Disclaimer: I don't own CHERUB!**

7. SPINNING

Ayla and Edward were dropped in the desert a half hour or so after Rose and Rufus. They had jumped out of the door of the shuttle van, disrupting the perfect sand, and waited until the van was slightly further away before looking at each other. They had read their briefings carefully, compared notes, and were pretty sure what they were doing.

'So, to the first checkpoint?' Edward asked rhetorically. She grinned optimistically.

'To the first checkpoint.' she confirmed.

The pair began their trek across the sweltering Egyptian desert, wearing their trainee T-shirts and shorts. The sun was bright orange and seemed to fill the sky whenever Ayla looked up. Even looking at the sand burned their eyes. They could feel their bare skin tingling and burning right from the start, and every few minutes they applied more sun cream from out of their backpacks. The various items of kit that they had decided to keep in the backpacks included two silk tents, a net, food, water bottles filled up, and spare T-shirts.

'I'll admit, Rufus was right about one thing in his life.' Ed mentioned as they came up to around the halfway mark of the first section of their trek. Their clothes were sticking to them with sweat and they had put their spare T-shirts over their heads.

'What's that?' Ayla asked, her voice muffled through the shirt.

'We really are going to get serious tans from this trek.' he said, and Ayla could tell he was grinning from the sound of his voice. She laughed.

'I don't particularly want a T-shirt tan, to be honest.'

Edward smirked and if he had been any other teenage boy he would have told her to take of her shirt. But he wasn't so he just agreed with her.

'Neither do I, but I guess you're more likely to wear sleeveless tops than me.' he said.

'True. At least you can take your shirt off now, though.' Ayla said, having been thinking along the same lines as him. He shrugged.

'I'd probably just end up with the reddest chest anyone's ever seen.'

Ayla giggled. 'I swear we should be a bit more tired right now? Shall we check the map?'

'Sure,' Ed said and as they kept walking he took the shirt off his head and got the map out of his bag. 'We're about three-quarters of the way through…oh, balls.' he swore.

'What is it?' she asked, alarmed and pulled the shirt off her face. He pointed to the map.

'We're here, about a quarter to go, but we have to be at the first checkpoint really soon.' he said, staring at his watch.

'How long…?' she asked nervously.

'We have one hour.' he said.

'And how far do we have to go?'

'8 kilometres.' he muttered.

'8 kilometres?! Are they crazy?! We're gonna have to run, you know.' she told him.

'Yeah…we're gonna have to run.'

'Let's go.' Ayla nudged him, and they began to run through the Sahara Desert, sand slipping over their shoes, muscles and skin both burning. They didn't wear shirts over their faces because they found it impossible to run blind. With a while still yet to go, they spotted the first checkpoint; a small temporary house in the distance.

'Are you…sure we're not…just hallucinating?' Ayla panted.

'Let's…hope not!' Ed managed to give her a crazed grin before turning his head to squint back across the sand to the hut. They reached the hut almost half an hour later. Speaks was sitting inside in the shade, waiting for them. Ayla and Ed staggered in, moaning about water and immediately dumping their backpacks onto the floor.

'Well done, you two. You've earned around fifteen minutes rest, if you take it. After that you're going to want to get going on to the second checkpoint, the final one for today. Good luck.' he said, and relaxed back in his chair. There were three more water bottles on the floor and Ayla grabbed them, sticking them inside her backpack.

'Okay, shall we…take like 10 minutes then go?' she asked Ed, still a little out of breath.

'Sure…I need water.' he groaned. They took their last bottles, not counting the new ones, and drained them slowly. 'I'll just be one minute.' said Ed after they'd recovered. Ayla realised he had to go pee and valiantly waited inside the hut while Speaks roared with laughter. But within the next few minutes they had to take off again. They started at a fast walking pace, examining the map and calculating approximately how long they would have to run for. If they continued at this pace they would only have to run for a half-hour, Ayla realised, but the entire distance was far longer than the first one.

They put T-shirts back over their faces and only checked the map to make sure they were walking straight every half hour or so. Ayla could practically feel her insides burning up through her skin, as the sun shone brighter and brighter because it was afternoon. They ate while walking, and sipped water fairly often, but both teenagers still found themselves getting thirstier as they walked on. It got to the point that both of them kept spotting a small oasis in the sand close to them, but it always ended up just being a trick of the mind. Eventually the last half hour, which they would have to run, came along. The sand was spinning around Ayla's head and her trainers kicked up a storm as they sunk through the grains every step she took.

The only thing keeping each of them going was the thought of the other, suffering alongside them, and the thought of what was to come when they returned to campus successfully. Ayla thought about running on a proper track and races, lessons in the main building and nights watching late films with her friends. Ed thought of the grey shirt that would come with success, the missions he would be able to go on, the qualifications and experiences he would gain for later life. When they spotted the second hut on the horizon both knew it was no vision. They would have to last until they reached that hut, and then they would have a night of rest. Neither trainee wanted to think about what they would have to get through on days 99 and 100.

Ayla counted down her strides to the hut. 10 more, now 5, now less and less…the door closer and closer and they had made it. They were at the second checkpoint on time. They actually had ten minutes to spare, but neither teenager had realised that Ed's watch was ten minutes too fast. Once again, Speaks was waiting for them. He fanned his face and smirked at the two trainees, standing half-dead in the doorway.

'About time, too. You're sleeping here tonight, in your tents, because I'm taking away this portable hut in my van.' he pointed to the shuttle van parked outside. 'Your briefings say everything else. Have a nice, sunny day tomorrow!' Speaks passed them four more water bottles, and cleared them out of the hut before disassembling it. Ayla only just realised it was made of cloth. Her eyes watered from the sand that had blown into them earlier, as she watched Speaks drive away with a backwards wave to them out of the window.

She turned to Ed.

'Two more nights.'

**Author's Note: Please r&r! x**


	8. Water

**Disclaimer: I don't own CHERUB!**

8. WATER

Their night in the tents went smoothly. The next morning they awoke to the alarm on Ed's watch. Well, he woke up and in turn woke up Ayla. They were supposed to get going by 0900 latest, but they could go at any time before that. In the end they had decided to go at 0800, to leave an hour spare if any complications arose. Also, it was nowhere near as hot in the morning and they were able to walk comfortably for a few hours without needing much water. But by the time it was midday the sun was burning down on them brighter than ever before, and Ayla's whole body throbbed with pain and fatigue. Her ankle was especially affected by this trek, although it was so much better than it had been not 20 days ago.

There was no third checkpoint, only a final fourth one which they would reach at around 1600 if their calculations were correct. Fortunately they still had two bottles of water left by 1300, but that barely seemed to be enough as they trudged under the heat of the sun. Eventually Ed had drunk all of his and they still had two hours to go.

'I have about 3 big sips of water left in this.' Ayla said, shaking her bottle.

'God I'm sorry, Ay. I won't take any of that unless I'm about to pass out.' Ed rubbed his eyes wearily.

'Neither will I. We'll save it up.' she agreed.

That was the hardest two hours of her whole life. Every step felt as though their bodies were going to sink into the ground, be buried under the sand and die. Every step Ayla felt as though she would rather die than go through this. But their wills were stronger, and they barely drank any water, barely glanced at the sun, just put one foot in front of the other and followed the map to the final checkpoint. Rose and Rufus reached the hut at exactly the same time as them, from the opposite direction. Both pairs looked as though they were about to collapse on the spot. Ayla almost fell inside the hut instead of walking. No one said anything; they all just took bottles of water from Speaks and Smoke's hands and drank deeply, sitting inside guarded from the sun by the fabric roof of the hut.

'One more day.' was all Speaks said to them, before they were told to get into the shuttle van as Speaks and Smoke took down the hut and shoved the cloth into the boot. Ayla fell asleep on Rose's shoulder as the gentle rocking motion of the van continued as it drove away over the sand. When she awoke they were in a different setting, just at the edge of a crowded dock standing just next to a turquoise sea.

'Welcome to the Red Sea.' announced Smoke. Everyone stared, now fully awake. What was their final task going to be? Ayla had read newspapers not days before joining CHERUB describing multiple shark attacks just of the coast of Egypt, in the Red Sea. It seemed like a cruel twist of fate for her greatest fear to be being trapped in the water with a shark, and that she had read those newspapers, and that they were now here. She just hoped that the task had nothing to do with swimming in this sea.

Her hopes were slightly dashed when Speaks and Smoke led the four recruits onto a tiny boat with a small engine. Ayla's heart began to pound as they sped away from the dock, engine spluttering forcefully. One hundred days of hell, one hundred days of sacrifice and pain all to end with a stupid fear? Rose noticed her friend looking completely freaked, and gave her hand a quick squeeze.

'There's some marine wildlife!' Speaks called over the din of the engine, pointing out to their left. He was leering at Ayla and she almost knew what she was going to see before she looked. Two grey shark fins, cutting through the water in the not-so-far distance. They were not heading for the boat, but Ayla still felt completely sick at the thought. It was almost as if Speaks had known her fear, but then again, he probably did. He probably had a file back at CHERUB dedicated to each one of the trainees and their hopes, dreams, fears and general lives. Ayla decided she would not let him get to her. Sharks, so what? Even if her heart jumped into her throat at the thought, she would be fine. This was Basic Training, and she was Ayla Adrian. She was going to pass no matter what.

The instructors stopped the boat almost 3 hours later at a small island. The sky was navy blue and so was the water and Ayla had been increasingly anxious about the choppy water that sometimes splashed into their boat. She had no idea what was beneath them, but she did know that the Red Sea was 2850m deep in parts. Even Rufus reaching an arm around her shoulder didn't cheer her up. Ayla stepped off the boat much more carefully than the other three, taking a good long look back at the sea behind them. It was still fairly choppy and the colour of coal.

'I hope you all enjoyed the journey.' Speaks smiled at Ayla, who stared him down until he moved on. 'Well, all you have to do to get your grey shirt is stay on this island for one night!'

Everyone stared at him, confused.

'What's the catch…?' Rufus eventually asked.

'Ah, I was hoping someone would ask. You see, we have no idea what's on this island. Could be dangerous, could be a hotel. Either way, you have to stay on here for one night. In the morning we'll come back and get you. Whoever is still here comes back to CHERUB.'

Rose and Ayla looked at each other, dumbstruck.

'You're saying we could die here.' Ayla stated.

'You could also get a hot meal and a back massage here. We don't know. Enjoy your stay!' Speaks waved at them, and then him and Smoke got back into the boat and it began to speed away. The four trainees looked at each other nervously.

'Well, the cold won't be a problem. It's really warm here.' Rose said brightly.

'I can't believe they're leaving us here.' Ayla shook her head.

'I know…' Rufus pinched the bridge of his nose.

'Can we get away from the beach? The sea is freaking me out.' Ayla said, swallowing.

'Yeah, sure.' Ed nodded and the four teenagers moved as a group towards the forest. The beach had been fine white sand, but the forest floor was covered in spongy moss and seeds. Everything was dark, and Ayla held her breath as they slowly walked further in.

'It can't be that big an island.' Rufus said, attempting to break the darkness by talking.

'Yeah.' Rose quickly agreed.

'How about we just find a place to sleep for the night and sleep? No one's hungry, right?' Ayla checked. Everyone shook their heads, then spoke, remembering that no one else could see them. No one really wanted to go looking for food on this creepy island.

'I don't care what Speaks says. I'd rather sleep in a tree than at a luxury hotel where you get double the questions.' Rose said.

'I wish there was a hotel, though. Everything would be less…creepy.' said Rufus. Ayla became more aware of their surroundings when he said that. No one could see anything and they would often bump into trees.

'We're getting nowhere. We may as well sleep here as anywhere else, we can't see.' Ed pointed out.

Slowly, all four sat down and found a tree to lean on.

'Everyone still here?' Ayla asked.

'Yeah.' everyone said quickly.

'I guess we try and fall asleep now, then.' Rose said.

They grew quiet and Ayla listened to the sounds of a breeze tickling the leaves in the canopy above, and twigs cracking on the forest floor. Her eyes drifted shut, and then she sensed something behind her. Clenching her hands into fists, she turned her head slightly to check that there was nothing there. What she saw shocked her even more than anything.

A pair of red eyes stared back at her in the darkness, right behind her head, and she screamed.

**Author's Note: uh ohhh! Haha ! Please r & r! Also, if you like harry potter check out my story on my profile! Thanks for reading:) xx**


	9. 100

**Author's Note: Chapter 9 :) Enjoy and review!**

9. 100

Ayla crawled backwards on her hands and knees, terrified as the red eyes blinked once, and then moved away. Everyone else was obviously awake by now, and trying to grab Ayla to check that she was alright. Rose's voice was the highest.

'Ayla? AYLA!'

'I'm ok! I'm fine!' Ayla panted, still staring into the darkness ahead of her. She could not see anything whatsoever.

'What happened? Where are you?' Rufus was yelling.

'I'm right here! It's ok!' Ayla called, waving her arms around and hitting Rufus on the knee.

'Oh, you're there.' he grabbed her hand and held on. Eventually the four found each other and Ayla was able to calmly tell everyone what she had seen.

'Oh my god! So there's some red-eyed _thing _in here?' Rose exclaimed, sounding thoroughly freaked out.

'Yeah…' Ayla confirmed.

'I say we move back to the beach. We'll be able to see anything coming from there.' Ed told them.

Everyone slowly agreed.

'Wait a second.' Rufus said.

'What?' Ayla asked him.

'Which way is the beach?' he groaned. Rose swore.

'Let's just wait here. Try and sleep. Maybe if we can't see them we won't freak out.' Ed decided.

'Ok.' Rose said in a small voice.

'Right, I need something to cover my face with.' Ayla laughed.

'Just curl up, or something.'

As they settled down again, everyone could clearly hear the cracking of sticks coming closer to them.

'AHHH! JUST DON'T LOOK UP!' Rufus yelled.

It worked and everyone laughed, breaking the spell. Ayla covered her face with her hands, and luckily within a few moments she had fallen asleep. Not everyone was so lucky, however. Ed felt like they should not all be asleep at the same time and decided to take the role of guard upon himself. So when he first felt something furry brush against his back he yelled out.

Once again, everybody woke up, frantically thrashing their arms about until they were all holding on to each other.

'What happened?' Ayla asked first.

'Something brushed against my back.' Ed sounded completely petrified.

'Okay, this isn't going to work. How about we stay awake until dawn? Talk about things?' Rufus asked.

'Alright, then.' Rose agreed, and they moved closer together so they were sitting in a circle.

'Pinch me if I fall asleep.' Ayla told Rufus, who was holding her left hand.

The four teenagers sat cross-legged on the forest floor and talked about life, training, people, campus, CHERUB, missions, boys, girls, animals (they had to get off that topic quickly because the red-eyed thing was on their minds), tans, school work, classes, teachers, TV shows, books, films, music, bands…They discussed everything they could think of until the sun crept over the Eastern horizon. A pale lilac colour spread across the sky and morphed into blue as the sun came up. They let out a sigh of relief upon spotting the sea and the beach through the trees.

'I thought we were going to fail, last night.' Ayla said.

'Me too. Hey, guess what?' Rufus grinned.

'What?' the others asked.

'WE'VE PASSED BASIC TRAINING!' he hollered out into the cerulean sea, and about fifty birds flew off the rocks on the edges of the beach.

'Not so fast, Tell.' said a familiar voice, as Speaks and Smoke came around the corner of the island in the boat and stopped at the beach.

'Why are you using my last name not my number?' Rufus asked, confused.

'Because you're now a CHERUB agent.' Smoke said with a perfectly straight face, and threw them four grey T-shirts.

'OH MY GOD!' Ayla screamed at the top of her lungs.

'WE SURVIVED!' Rose shrieked at the same time, and they hugged each other so tight they each thought the other would suffocate them. Their new grey T-shirts were clutched in their hands. Ed just shook his head wearily and smiled at Rufus, who gave him a high five.

'Nice work, partner.' Ayla grinned, and hugged Ed as Rose and Rufus did the same.

'Shall we get back to campus now?' Speaks asked them, and everyone ran back onto the boat. 'No, no.' he grinned, and pointed skywards. A silver military helicopter was descending on the island, almost directly above them.

'We have a new ride.' said Smoke, laughing at their faces.

The trip back to the Egyptian shore was much quicker, mainly because they were in a helicopter, and because most of the way Ayla and Rose were modelling their new grey CHERUB T-shirts. Unfortunately, Speaks revealed some information that the ex-trainees were completely disgusted about. The instructors had used red torches and fur to scare them when they had been on the island. There was no red-eyed beast and the cracking twigs had been the instructors walking around. Ayla was so annoyed with them that she personally kicked Speaks in the shin, which hurt her toe much more than his leg. To make up for their prank, Speaks and Smoke gave them all hoodies saying 'I survived for 100 days.' on the back to cover up their new shirts on the flight. Ayla spent the entire flight listening to Jay-Z and Kanye West on Rufus' iPod.

The return to campus was the best part. All four of them got to be congratulated by Zara personally, and then they had a week off before they went into normal CHERUB mode. It was now early November, so everyone else was either thoroughly into the school year or on missions. On the first night, Rose invited everyone to her room to watch some films and finally relax. By everyone, it meant Rose, Ayla, Lydia, Rufus, Ed, and finally Theo, who Ayla had never met. It was great to see Lydia again and Theo seemed nice. They were both extremely impressed by how brown the new agents were. Ayla could not wait to get on the athletics track, and the very next day Theo showed her it in the evening. He had to go back and do his homework but as she had a week off Ayla ran for almost three hours; until she got so hungry she had to go back inside.

The rest of her week off consisted of bubble baths, running, reading and going into the town with Rose to watch a film. They needed permission from their handler but it was completely worth it. So by the time the end of the week came about, all four agents were ready for the heaps of school work that was about to be piled upon them.

They could do anything now. School would be tough, but Cherubs were tougher.

**Author's Note: Yay, back to campus! Please review :)**


	10. Maths

**Author's Note: The Maths lesson in here was the first part of this story i ever wrote! Weirrd**

**Also thanks to Ashley for reviewing, much appreciated! Woop 3 reviews! **

**Disclaimer: I don't own CHERUB!**

10. MATHS

The first breakfast on a school day was hard because Ayla, Rose, Rufus and Ed had been getting up late every day during their week of rest. Ayla had set her alarm the night before, and once she was dressed in her grey shirt, cargo pants and boots she went to meet Rose and Lydia outside her bedroom door.

'You excited?' Rose grinned.

'It's school…so, no!' Ayla rolled her eyes.

'At least you'll get to meet everyone in our class. I'm just returning.' Rose sighed.

'What if no one likes me?' Ayla asked nervously. She had been thinking about that for quite some time the night before, and it was really making her worry.

'Of course they'll like you! Everyone's nice. Actually, to be honest we don't really know anyone else our age well except for our group.' Lydia admitted. Ayla laughed.

'Wow, sounds like a friendly class.'

They all burst out laughing as they took the lift downstairs to the cafeteria.

'Everyone will be all over you, Ayla. You're new.' Lydia warned her.

'So is Rufus, so I should be ok.' Ayla grimaced.

'Don't count on it!' someone said, and Ayla realised they had reached their table in the cafeteria. It was Theo talking.

'Alright, Theodore Bond.' Ayla smirked and sat down next to him.

'I was 8 years old…I didn't know any good surnames.' Theo blushed.

'Fail.' Rufus interrupted, and Ayla groaned.

'I forgot you had to go up and get breakfast…I'm already sitting down.' she sighed.

'La-zy!' Rufus laughed.

'Come on,' Rose said, and Ayla and Lydia followed her up to the counter. The rest of breakfast passed without incident. Ayla was getting increasingly nervous about the first lesson. Lydia seemed to realise and on the way out of the canteen she tried to help a bit.

'You've done Basic Training. This is just one lesson.' she told Ayla, who nodded slowly.

'It does help if you compare it to that, I guess.'

Relieved that she had Rose and Lyddie to guide her, Ayla sat down in her first lesson with her entire new class: Maths. Ayla hated Maths. Rose showed her where to sit, because the class was in a snaking alphabetical order. With the surname Adrian, Ayla would always be first from now on. There was no-one sitting next to her for now. She leant back in her seat to talk to Rose. The girl sitting next to Rose looked pretty pissed off.

'Rose. Is the teacher nice?' Ayla asked.

The answer came from behind Ayla, before Rose could reply.

'I guess you'll have to find out. You must be one of the new ones. I'm Mr Richards.' said a slick-looking man from in front of my desk, where the teacher's desk was.

'I'm Ayla Adrian.' she said nervously.

'Welcome to CHERUB. Who else here is new?' asked Mr Richards.

Before Rufus could reply, two boys walked into the classroom dead last, laughing at something.

'Well, well. If it isn't Mr Czoss and Mr Grey. You're certainly not new.' said Mr Richards disdainfully.

'Sir, for the last time my name is pronounced Cross.' said one of the boys, as he sat down next to Ayla and dumped his bag.

'Why are you late this time?' the teacher asked, raising an eyebrow.

'Queue for food.' said the other boy, 'Mr Grey', grinning. Suddenly the guy next to Ayla realised that she was not who he normally sat next to. He looked at her curiously as the lesson started. Mr Richards was trying to work the computer and someone got up to help him, as everyone else started talking again. Ayla stared out of the window as the guy next to her stared at her.

'You're new?' he asked, almost a statement.

'Uh, yeah. Obviously.' said Ayla, looking around at him. He blinked. He had short brown hair and slim tanned arms.

'I'm Aaron Cross.'

'Ayla Adrian.'

'Cool.' he nodded and fiddled with his pen.

Ayla turned to look awkwardly out of the window again. Aaron started talking to the guy across the aisle from him, who he'd come in with. Finally Mr Richards called for silence.

'Turn to the algebra section, everyone! First three exercises. I can't work the computer today.' he yelled. Everyone opened their books.

Halfway through the lesson Mr Richards asked everyone to discuss how to work out an equation in pairs. Ayla reluctantly turned to Aaron.

'Um…got any idea?' she asked cluelessly. Maths really was a bore.

'Yeah, that's the answer.' he muttered, barely meeting her eyes as he pushed a piece of paper towards her desk. She looked at it.

'Wow, I feel stupid.' she laughed.

'Don't worry. First day's hardest.' he smiled at her, this time looking into her eyes. They paused.

'So…you like Maths?' Ayla asked, changing the subject.

'Sort of. You?' he said, looking less interested.

'Not at all.' Ayla said, and he grinned.

'You seem very sure.'

'I am.'

He looked down at his work. 'So, got anyone to sit next to at lunch?' he asked her, trying to sound uninterested.

'Yeah, I sit at Rose's table.' Ayla said.

'Oh, you're on that one…'

'Who do you sit with?' she asked, trying to be sociable. Why couldn't Richards finish the discussion already?

'Jason, Robbie and Lee. You probably won't know them yet.' he said.

'No…' Ayla shook her head.

'Jason's the one I came in with.' Aaron nodded to his right.

'Oh,' Ayla said, before Richards regained control of the class.

Later, when the bell went and the lesson ended for break, Aaron left immediately dragging Jason behind him. Rose came up to Ayla as she stood watching Aaron and Jason bemusedly. They were having a hushed discussion in the hallway.

'You've had your first lesson!' Rose exclaimed, and Ayla turned to her.

'So glad it's over.' she sighed, laughing.

'Let's go get break.' Rose said, leading Ayla to Lydia, then the three of them went to the cafeteria and got in the queue for food.

'How was it?' Lydia asked Ayla as they waited.

'Better than I expected…' she smiled.

'What've you got next?'

'Art. Where's the art room, by the way?'

Before Rose and Lydia could reply, the answer came from in front of them.

'I'll show you. I do Art.' said Jason Grey, the boy who had come in Maths late with Aaron. Aaron was standing next to him, glaring at Jason.

'Um…OK.' Ayla said, bemused again.

Jason turned back around and flashed a knowing grin at Aaron. Ayla looked at Lydia and Rose questioningly. They shrugged.

At last they reached the front of the queue. Ayla only grabbed a bottle of water. They sat down with Theo, Rufus and Edward at the usual table.

'Hellooo.' said Theo.

'How was Maths, Ay?' asked Rufus.

'Alright.' she rolled her eyes.

'I feel greedy eating all this food when you girls have only got a drink each…' Edward looked down.

'That's cause you are greedy…' Lydia winked.

Ayla laughed. 'This isn't basic training anymore; you two should be eating less!'

'I am so glad basic is over.' Rufus slammed his hand on the table for emphasis.

'But it was fun when…actually, no it wasn't fun.' said Rose. Everyone laughed.

'Hey, Ay. Aaron Cross is looking at you.' muttered Theo, as everyone else kept talking. She looked up, surprised.

'Where's his table?'

'Don't look…on my right.' he groaned.

Ayla glanced over and sure enough he was looking.

'Um…what?' Ayla said to Theo.

'Just leave it.' he nodded, but she looked quickly back and Aaron was talking to Jason while staring at her. Jason glanced over his shoulder and smiled at her.

'Who wants the rest of my cereal bar?' asked Rufus, and Ayla turned back to her table to watch everyone trying to grab the bar.

At the end of break Aaron and Jason approached the table.

'Let's go, Ayla.' Jason motioned for her to get up.

'Okay, okay.' she waved at the others. 'You do Art too?' she asked Aaron as they walked.

'No, I'm going to Geography.' he muttered. There was a brief silence and then Aaron went into his Geography classroom at one of the doors, giving Jason an almost warning look. As soon as he was gone Jason started talking.

'How's your first day so far?'

Ayla glanced up at him. 'Pretty good.'

'Seen anyone you like?' he said off-handedly.

'As in—'

'Boys.' Jason stated, grinning.

'Oh. Erm, I don't know.' she mumbled. Bit personal, wasn't it?

'What about Theo, Rufus and Edward?' he pried.

'Nah. Just mates. Besides, I think maybe Rufus and Rose…' she trailed off. That was just some suspicion she had, and she didn't want to spread any rumours.

'Oh, okay. That's cool.'

She nodded awkwardly.

'Do you do any of the clubs?' he asked suddenly.

'Running.' Well, she was starting anyway.

'Long distance?' he asked hopefully.

'Yeah.'

'Good.' he said thoughtfully, nodding as if trying to remember her answers.

'Why all the questions?' she grinned.

'WELL—' he started as though about to impart big news, then stopped himself. 'Just wondering.'

'Right.' Ayla said, pretty much confused by this boy.

They reached the art room.

'The teacher's kind of crazy, just go along with it. Sit next to me?' Jason said.

'Sure.' Ayla went in and they sat down at the long wooden tables. There were only two other people in there, one boy and one girl. The girl had long, shiny blonde hair and a perfect face. The guy had a quick smile and chestnut hair.

'Robbie, Eve. This is Ayla.' Jason announced.

'Hey, Ayla.' the boy smirked. The girl smiled at Ayla and she knew that they were going to be friends.

Just then the teacher came in. He had flyaway white hair and geek glasses. Ayla blinked.

'Hello, class! Good morning, Ayla Adrian. Welcome to CHERUB's Art. Enjoy the ride.' he walked briskly over and shook her hand. 'My name is Mr Fenning. Everybody, please help yourselves to a new sketchbook for this term. Can we start with some simple sketching? I'm going to time you, ten minutes and we'll see how far you've got on the person opposite you's face. We'll see how you've been practicing. Ayla has been at basic training so she is forgiven. Let's go!' Mr Fenning babbled. Ayla and the rest rushed to get sketchbooks and begin.

Ayla was drawing Robbie, Jason was drawing Eve, and vice versa. Ayla sensed that Jason liked Eve, as she shaded in Robbie's eyebrows. She could see the way he was looking at her across the table. Eve seemed quite oblivious to his admiration, as she drew him. Ayla didn't think she quite knew just how pretty she was.

The art lesson flew by in a mixture of sketching, throwing paint, and collaging, all at speed. Mr Fenning was not a believer in wasted time, although they would spend much longer on their projects when it came to coursework. This was just a warm-up.

Lunch came and Ayla found herself with her Art class in the queue. She could see her friends sitting down at their table.

'Do you like Art here?' asked someone shyly.

Ayla turned. Eve was smiling at her.

'Yeah, it's cool. Fenning is a pretty relaxed teacher.' Ayla shrugged.

'I'm quite new too. I did basic training the slot before you.' Eve told her.

'Oh, nice. Who do you sit with? I haven't really seen you before.' Ayla laughed.

'I sit with Beth and Feenie. By the window.' she nodded her head towards the table.

'I don't know either of them! Are they near the end of the alphabet?'

'Yes, they don't sit near you in class. Neither do I, but I'm near you in the alphabet.' Eve said.

'Whereabouts do you sit?'

'Next to Matthew Brown, three rows behind you. What lesson do you have after lunch?'

'Oh, I'll look out for you. I have Biology next.' said Ayla, checking the timetable in her pocket.

'Me too. It's the first half of our class, so from you 'til Jason.' Eve said, nodding at Jason.

'Except Aaron. He's the only one in our half that doesn't do Bio.' interrupted Jason.

'Thanks, Jason.' Ayla laughed.

He looked offended and moved in front as the girls got their food. Ayla said goodbye to Eve and walked over to the table.

'Ayla! You're late, girl!' exclaimed Rufus as she sat down.

'Hello to you too.' she smirked at him.

'How was Art? And…the way there?' asked Lydia, grinning.

'It was fine, and that was…weird?' laughed Ayla.

'What did they do to you?' Theo asked eagerly.

'Nothing! Jason just asked me loads of stuff after Aaron left, and Aaron was kind of anti-social while he was there.'

'Weird.' Rose made a face at me.

'Anyway…what lessons did everyone else have?'

The others began to complain about History and other boring stuff, as Ayla tuned out and relaxed.

**Author's Note: Please review what you thought!**


	11. Encounter

**Author's Note: Thanks for your review, UnicornChloe! It inspired me to write another chapter :)**

**Disclaimer: I don't own CHERUB :(**

11. ENCOUNTER

Her first week or so passed without incident. Everybody was charming, the lessons were far more interesting than at her previous state school, and all in all Ayla was having the time of her life. Every morning started at the athletics track for running club. Then she had lessons, and at lunch she would often catch up on homework, or sometimes get ahead. More lessons after lunch, and the day ended relaxing with her group of friends. For the first time she had real friends who helped her and each other, and Ayla relished it. She had got to know Rose, Lyddie, Rufus, Ed and Theo like the back of her hand, mainly because of the sheer amount of time that they all spent talking when they should have been working. There were other people in her year that she had got to know a little as well; like Eve in Art, and Jason and Aaron, because she sat next to either one of them in every single lesson.

At the beginning of her second week, Ayla crossed the running track, stretching as she walked over to the club. She quickly realised there were more people than usual. Yes, there was one extra. She looked at him. Aaron Czoss.

'What are you doing here?' Ayla tapped him on the shoulder. He spun around and grinned.

'Hey, Ayla. I just joined.'

'Can you run?' she asked doubtfully.

'Of course!' he looked offended.

'OK…' Ayla nodded and started stretching her legs.

'So…' he said as he copied her.

'So what?' she questioned, glancing at him.

'So, are you good?' he asked as if randomly searching for something to say. She smiled.

'I'm alright.'

'You know, we should have lunch together sometime, and talk about all this running stuff I need to know.' he said in a rush. Ayla raised her eyebrows.

'All what running stuff?'

'Just…let's have lunch together.'

'Whose table will we sit at then?' she asked, amused. He looked thoughtful.

'Mine. I'll introduce you to Lee, you haven't met him.'

'Alright, then.' she laughed.

'What?'

'So I'm sitting at your table this lunchtime.' Ayla clarified.

'Yeah.' he nodded.

'Okay, then!' she said quickly, just before the coach arrived.

Later on, at just past one o'clock, Ayla stood awkwardly in the queue with Rose and Lydia.

'One more time, you're sitting at Aaron's table today?' asked Rose again.

'Yes…' she answered, worry etched on her face.

Lydia laughed. 'Good luck to you, with all those boys. Just come back to our table tomorrow.'

'I will definitely! To be honest I'm a bit scared.' she admitted, blushing.

Rose giggled. 'You'll be fine. I wonder why he wants you to sit there, though…'

All three of the girls thought while they got their food. Ayla came up with nothing except that he was really obsessed with talking about running. Just when she had given up, Ayla realised that Lydia had got something, because she gasped at Rose and they exchanged "The Look". Now Ayla was worried.

'Good luck, Ay.' Lydia grinned innocently. She waved at the smiling pair and took her tray over to Aaron's table. Jason, Aaron, Robbie and Lee were all already sitting there eating their lunch. Ayla took a big breath, feeling her usual table's stares on her back, and sat down in the free space next to Aaron. They were all talking and laughing about one of the teachers. When she sat down Aaron turned to see her.

'Ayla!' he exclaimed.

'Aaron!' Ayla smiled, mocking his enthusiasm. Jason chuckled.

'This is Lee Moore.' said Aaron, gesturing to the guy on his right with short brown hair and chocolate brown skin. Ayla smiled at him and he smiled back, glancing at Aaron quickly.

'So you and Aaron are finally eating lunch together.' said Robbie cheekily, eyeing Aaron to see what he would say to this.

'Robbie, shut up.' he glared. Jason nudged Ayla.

'Was Aaron good at running?' he asked, grinning.

'He was alright.' she said, winking. Jason laughed.

'I was pretty good, Ayla.' said Aaron grinning jokily.

She laughed. 'Your table is so…'

'Cool?' asked Robbie.

'Not what I was going for.' Ayla laughed again.

'Go on, say it.' smiled Lee.

'Friendly is what I was thinking. It doesn't look like it when you're not sitting here.'

'Well, Aaron and Jason are basically a married couple and we're like their children.' said Robbie matter-of-factly, gesturing to himself and Lee. The table erupted in groans and laughs, with a giggle from Ayla.

'Then what am I?' she asked sadly.

'You can be the one Aaron cheated on me with.' said Jason. 'Bitch!'

She acted shocked. 'Whoa there. I'm not a bitch, bitch.'

Jason laughed. Aaron just looked faintly embarrassed.

'Hey Ayla, wanna hear about a bet me, Jason and Lee have on?' asked Robbie, grinning evilly.

'Sure.' she smiled, puzzled.

'No!' Aaron interrupted. 'That's enough, Robbie. Not that.'

'Sorry, dad.'

She giggled again.

'Ayla and I are going to English together.' Aaron announced.

'Are we?' Ayla asked him questioningly. Jason laughed.

'Smooth, Aaron.' he said.

'Yes, come on.' Aaron motioned for her to get up.

She sighed and followed him to put away her tray, saying goodbye to the other guys.

'What's up?' she asked him once they were in the corridor.

'We need to talk.' he said, pulling her into the empty English classroom. There was still about twenty minutes before the lesson started.

'What about?' Ayla frowned.

'I know practically nothing about you!'

'Okay, ask me questions then.' she said.

'What's your middle name?'

'May.'

'I don't have one. How did your parents, um, die?' he asked, drawing his eyebrows together as though he did not want to breach an uncomfortable subject.

'I was abandoned as a baby. I don't know my family.' she explained, looking down.

'Mine died in a plane crash. I was there but I survived.' his brow furrowed, remembering. Then he looked back up at her. 'What's your favourite colour?'

'Blue.'

'Red. Favourite flowers?'

'Um…tulips or sunflowers, I guess.'

'What's your favourite band?'

'Coldplay, Eminem, U2, Snow Patrol, Muse, Fun…' she listed.

'Me too. Just add a bit of Jay-Z.' he grinned. 'Favourite place?'

'In the whole world?'

'Yeah.' he nodded.

'Paris.'

'Have you been?'

'Not yet.'

'City of love.' he looked at her. She looked back. It was a little pause, just like the one in their first Maths lesson together, but it was long enough for him to become shy again. So did Ayla.

'I got to go. Homework to catch up on.' she frowned, and ran out of the room. _Oh my god, what did I just do? I had a proper connection with Aaron Czoss. Why did I leave? Why did I stay for so long? _Thoughts ran through her mind as though they were in a race of their own.

_Do I like him? _

_Does he like me?_

**Author's Note: If you're feeling kind, please review and let me know what you thought! :)**


	12. Mission

**Author's Note: Thanks to 'Bubby AV' for his/her lovely review which inspired me to write another chap!**

12. MISSION

Halfway through English someone knocked at the door and Mr Byrd opened it to Zara herself. Everyone in Ayla's class shifted excitedly in their seats; they all understood exactly why Zara would interrupt in the middle of a lesson. Aaron nudged Ayla next to him, but she did not understand what was going on. And they had not talked since the incident during lunch.

'Zara only interrupts lessons if she wants someone for a mission.' Aaron whispered, realising that she did not know.

'That I do, Aaron.' Zara said with a smile. 'No whispering in class. But I want three people today, Mr Byrd. Sorry to disrupt your lesson.'

Aaron grinned, and Ayla glanced around. Everybody was tensed in anticipation – three people was a lot of people to be called for a mission from just one class! Rose, sitting behind her, gave her a wink and then gave her full attention to Zara.

'Please could Christian Young, Quinn Cyan and Ayla Adrian accompany me to the mission building?' Zara announced.

A cold flush ran through Ayla's body…this was her first mission in her second week on campus. It seemed too soon, but she felt ready. Ayla had never been more ready to throw away her past and work for the Government than she had been now. Almost simultaneously, Ayla and the two others drew back their seats and stood up. The last thing she saw before they left for the mission building was Lyddie and Rose grinning at her like madwomen.

_* *CLASSIFIED* *_

_MISSION BRIEFING FOR AYLA ADRIAN_

_DO NOT REMOVE FROM ROOM 812_

_DO NOT COPY OR MAKE NOTES_

_(1) Mabahith_

_The Mabahith__ (__General Intelligence Presidency__), also spelled __Mabaheth__, is the secret police agency of the Ministry of Interior in Saudi Arabia. It monitors suspected political opponents and others, targets individuals for arrest, and interrogates detainees. The kingdom started the intelligence service in 1955. During the reign of King Saud bin Abdul-Aziz, in 1957, the Mabahith was separated from the General Intelligence. During this period two branches of the Presidency were set up locally, the western branch in Jeddah, and the eastern one in Dhahran. The agency expanded its monitoring of internal threats after the 1979 capture of the Grand Mosque in Mecca. In 1997 it was strengthened to include high-tech equipment and specialists in radio surveillance. During this time the activities of the agency abroad were also expanded with the establishment and development of more offices in other countries and more effort to organise its work. It was renamed the General Intelligence Presidency in 2005._

_(2) Aims_

_The mission of the Presidency is to 'provide strategic intelligence, contribute to achieve national security, and provide timely information to the authorities, so that they can take rapid and appropriate actions'._

_They do this through:_

_a) Early collection of information about countries of interest_

_b) Planning and executing intelligence operations in these countries_

_c) Countering espionage, intellectual and material destruction and uncovering hostile individuals_

_d) Coordinating specialised studies and strategic research by the intelligence staff and in cooperation with universities, research centres, security bodies and other intelligence services_

_e) Monitoring the changing domestic and international situation_

_(3) Values and Principles_

_The GIP is guided by its core values and principles in its work:_

_a) Full obligation of the Islamic Sharia (Islamic Law)_

_b) Protection of the country and the citizen interests_

_c) Full obligation of the official trends and attitudes of the country_

_d) Initiative_

_e) Working with sense of mature security_

_f) Confidentiality_

_g) Discipline_

_h) Being free of personal tendencies and fancies_

_i) Continuous improvement_

_j) Full obligation of institutional approach in the work_

_k) Quality, not quantity_

_l) Applying the principle of reward and punishment_

_(4) Jimmy Carlton_

_Last year James (Jimmy) Carlton was introduced as the newest president of the GIP. He and his family live in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, America but Carlton is able to run the Presidency from abroad. He has a wife, Larissa Carlton née Bishop, and one fifteen year old son named Jake. Carlton also runs a company in Pittsburgh; 'Carlton Law & Finance'. The company advises other private companies, public companies, directors and shareholders on general company law. _

_(5) Behind the Name_

_Unfortunately Carlton is not quite as law-abiding as he seems. In the last year since he was employed as President of the Presidency, there has been a great increase of reports of Mahabith agents operating with impunity. Some have been responsible for a wide range of human rights abuses, including arbitrary arrest, incommunicado detention, and torture. All the actions lead back to Carlton himself, but MI6 do not have access to the man and the CIA are unwilling to investigate such an important member of their society. _

_(6) The Role of CHERUB  
Carlton is more careful than he seems and MI6 cannot reach undercover informants into either his company in Pittsburgh or his involvement with the Presidency in Saudi Arabia. CHERUB will provide three teenagers and two adults to move into the suburbs of Pittsburgh, in a location fairly far from Carlton's own residence.  
_

_(7) The Mission_

_Heather Hill and David Allen will accompany Ayla Adrian, Christian Young and Quinn Cyan to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. They will be posing as the Knight Family. The story is that David was offered a consultancy job in the area and the family moved together from Britain. Both Ayla and Christian will attend Jefferson Middle School as twins in 10__th__ Grade (Year 11), while Quinn will be supposedly home-schooled by Heather and will be posing as one year younger for the purposes of the mission. David's job is to actually work at his consultancy job in the centre of Pittsburgh to keep up appearances. Heather's job is to stay at home and work with Quinn. Their job is to monitor and record all important conversations that Ayla and Christian have, so that no information is lost. They are also required to pass judgment on the actions of Ayla and Christian, and plan ahead or spot any opportunities. They will listen to everything said by Jake Carlton and track him to make Ayla's job easier. This is to make friends with Jake and his friends, get into the Carlton's house, plant bugs and copy the computer contents onto another disc supplied by CHERUB. She needs to plant a bug on Jake somewhere at first so that Quinn and Heather can track and listen to him. Christian needs to focus on finding a work experience job at Carlton's law and finance company and possibly shadow Carlton himself, place bugs at his desk, and copy his laptop contents if he gets the chance. _

_THE CHERUB ETHICS COMMITTEE UNANIMOUSLY ACCEPTED THIS MISSION BRIEFING. ALL MISSION CANDIDATES SHOULD CAREFULLY CONSIDER THE FOLLOWING FACTORS:_

_(1) This mission has been classified LOW RISK. Despite the violence shown by Presidency agents, none have been located in Pittsburgh and Carlton has no contacts in America. However, agents should still proceed with caution and consider all possibilities._

_(2) Agents should wait for confirmation from either Heather or David before they act._

**Author's Note: Please r&r :)**


	13. Departure

**Author's Note: Shout out to becstarsmith and Big Fan - they aren't members of but if they were i'd read their stories cause I loved their reviews! Thanks guys you inspired this chap. And to Big Fan- you kinda guessed my plot haha ;)**

13. DEPARTURE

Ayla left the mission building with a fluttering feeling in her stomach. She walked next to Quinn and Christian, both of whom were completely silent. The rest of the day would be time for goodbyes, and then they would leave for Pennsylvania later in the evening. The realisation had still not quite sunk in yet; the realisation that she had been selected to help the Government on a top-secret mission in America of all places, where she had never dreamt of going. The three reached their English classroom door – unfortunately the mission meeting had not lasted as long as the double lesson. Christian looked back at the two girls as he went to knock, pausing.

'We should probably get friendly if we're going to be on this mission together.' he muttered.

Ayla nodded with a smile because she could think of nothing better to do. Quinn did not seem to have the same attitude. She was the girl, Ayla noticed, who sat next to Rose in class and never seemed to be in a good mood.

'We're never going to get on.' she told Christian with a shrug, and reached out her arm and knocked on the door. As the teacher opened it calmly, Christian shot a look at Ayla which she could read exactly.

_She meant me and her, not you._

Ayla frowned at him and his round blue eyes and wondered why on earth Quinn would not get on with him. There must be some history there, she thought. Maybe she would find out on the mission. But Christian seemed nice enough so far, even if she had not yet talked to Quinn. Ayla sat down next to Aaron with a sigh as she realised why she had been picked for this mission. It was not because they thought she would do well. It was because she, Quinn and Christian looked like siblings. Ayla had completely forgotten that you have to look the part for a mission and CHERUB will not let you go on one if they think for a moment that your cover story will be doubted. So that was why she had got a mission so soon.

In her angst she had not noticed the slip of paper float across to her desk. Ayla bent her head to read the scrawl.

**Do you have a mission? –A**

Ayla glanced across to where, sure enough, Aaron was watching her out of the corner of his eye. Everything was so awkward between them now that she had no idea where they stood. She knew that he could not possibly like her, he had known her for only a couple of weeks, but how did she feel? Ayla just wanted to fly away to America and kick some corrupted ass. She only had to survive another few hours of this and then she could forget about Aaron and all his stupid complications. And then when she came back hopefully all would be forgotten on both sides. But for now, she had to last.

_**Yeah, I'm leaving tonight**_

He picked up the note with a frown and replied nothing else. Obviously he was not allowed to ask about the mission, but still. Ayla felt a twinge in her gut. This lesson was never-ending.

'Ay…do you have a mission or not?!' Lyddie called across the classroom when the bell finally went. Ayla bit back a smile and turned around.

'I'm leaving tonight.'

Rose gaped at her as they approached Ayla's desk at the front.

'You lucky thing! I probably won't get one for ages!'

'I can't wait…but I think they only picked me, 'cause I look the part.' she added in an undertone.

They both cast her quizzical looks and shook their heads violently.

'C'mon, they had to pick three people in any year who looked similar.' Rose said.

'They had a ton of people to choose from. Guys, girls, any age, any looks…they just needed three similar people. You got picked 'cause you're good.' Lyddie added.

Ayla made a non-committal sound in the back of her throat and led the others out of the classroom. They took the stairs down a floor and sat down on the armchairs in the games room for some last minute talk before Ayla left.

'So where is it? Wait-don't answer. We're not meant to know.' Rose said quickly.

'Somewhere I've never been.' Ayla replied coyly. Lyddie laughed.

'I'm gonna miss you. How long will you be away?' she asked.

'However long it takes to…um, do what I need to do. Probably not very long.'

'Good.' Rose nodded.

'Maybe we'll get missions while you're away!' Lyddie exclaimed excitedly.

'If you do then you might not be here when I get back.' Ayla made a face.

'You have a ton of friends already.' Rose shrugged.

'Yeah, you'll be fine without us. So, do you like Christian and Quinn?' Lyddie asked.

'Christian seems cool. Quinn, I don't actually know. She doesn't like him much.'

Lyddie exchanged a look with Rose. 'That's old news, Ay. Something happened.'

'What?' Ayla asked, confused.

'I don't think I should say without asking Chris first...' Lyddie frowned.

'Yeah, don't say. You can ask Chris when you're on the plane or whatever.' Rose added.

Ayla nodded and they moved to allow some red shirts to sit on the armchairs. Rose and Lydia decided to help Ayla pack, which mainly consisted of the two throwing clothes at Ayla.

'Why don't they tell you how long you'll be away?! I wouldn't be able to survive!' Lyddie yelled when Ayla was unsure how much to pack.

'Chill...I'll be fine.' she grinned.

'A few T-shirts and trackies is not okay...' Rose sighed.

'I don't have any other clothes,' Ayla admitted, blushing.

'Right. When you get home we are SHOPPING as much as possible.' Lyddie announced, and Ayla laughed a bit.

'I don't have much money, either...'

'You get allowance. Didn't they say? Oh well, you'll have loads by the time you get home.' Rose explained.

Ayla ate in the cafeteria at her usual table, and then it was time to meet the others in the lobby. She cautiously made her way there with her new black suitcase, spotting Christian and Quinn standing facing opposite directions in the corner. Christian was tall and skinny, with dirty blonde hair the same shade as Quinn's. She was skinny as well, with shoulder length messy hair and tomboyish clothes. Ayla walked towards them, at which point they both turned and smiled at her in greeting. Each one then realised that they were doing the same thing and glared at each other. Ayla sighed as she parked her suitcase next to theirs. This was going to be a long night.

**Author's Note: Please rate and review :)**


	14. Pittsburgh

**A/N: Sorry this is so late, enjoy :) THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR REVIEWING EVERYONE!**

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**Spring Gaia Taay - Thanks :D Sorry this update isn't very soon :p**

14. PITTSBURGH

They boarded the 7 hour overnight flight to Pittsburgh in the late evening, at around 8 o'clock. Ayla ended up sitting in between Christian and Quinn, in the middle row of three seats. Immediately both put their headphones in and shut their eyes. Ayla shifted in her seat and waited for the video screen to turn on as they ascended in the air. Their 'parents', Heather and Dave, were seated in the pair on Ayla's right hand side. They had met in CHERUB's lobby before they had driven to the airport. Heather was small with a brown bob, and Dave was tall with light brown hair and a tan. Ayla thought that the two would be enough to keep Christian and Quinn from snapping at each other's throats all the time. Sure enough, Ayla had been placed in between the two on the plane and in the car. She suspected that CHERUB had known about the tension between the two but had still wanted them both on the mission. And who knows, maybe the mission will help them put aside their differences, Ayla thought.

Eventually the screen on the seat in front of her flickered to life and she flicked to a new film about superheroes. The air hostess passed her a pair of small black ear buds, and Ayla stuffed them in her ears to watch the movie absent-mindedly. Around half-way through the flight Ayla changed to the newest James Bond film. She watched Daniel Craig spinning kicks around the villains' heads and kissing beautiful women. She smiled to herself and hoped that being a spy was going to be just as exciting as that. Would she get to jump off a train or defuse a bomb? That sounded like fun. But anything was better than her previous life and Ayla was eager to start kicking baddie ass whenever she could. A distraction came in the form of Quinn rising out of her seat to go to the toilet. As Ayla watched her retreating back, she turned to Christian, who was also watching Quinn. Ayla realised that this was her chance.

'Hey, Christian.' she hissed, nudging his arm with her elbow. He blinked and snapped his head to look at her quizzically, pulling out his headphones.

'What happened between you two?' she whispered, nodding her head towards the general direction in which Quinn had gone. He looked down at the armrest briefly, and then shrugged with a quiet sigh.

'We used to be best friends. It was me, her, and my friends Ethan Cootes and Matthew Brown.'

'And then…' Ayla frowned.

'And then I had to go and bloody fall in love with her!' Christian exclaimed bitterly. He shoved the headphones back on and crossed his arms. Ayla turned back to her film, knowing when enough was enough. Quinn came back and Ayla could not help sneaking a glance at Christian's face as she did so. His jaw was clenched and his eyes were closed. She shook her head and concentrated on James Bond's mission instead.

They landed in Pittsburgh at 3am London time, which was 10pm in Pennsylvania, and immediately drove from the airport to their new house. CHERUB had rented a suburban house on the outskirts of the city. It was Friday night, so they would have the weekend to get to know the area and sleep off the jet lag. As soon as they got inside, Ayla dragged her suitcase up to the bedroom she had between Christian's and Quinn's, and went to sleep.

The next morning they were awoken at 10am by Heather. Apparently Dave had already gone to confirm his new job. They were to go through their mission briefings over breakfast. Ayla ate her way through two eggs and a bowl of cereal as Heather reread what they already knew.

'Ayla, are you listening?'

'Uh, yeh.' Ayla managed to say between mouthfuls. Heather looked on with distaste and turned to the other two instead.

'Christian, Quinn, do you understand?' she asked.

They both nodded. Christian looked tired and stressed with dark rings under his eyes. Quinn did not look much better. Ayla wondered what she looked like now, as she chugged the glass of milk.

'Alright. Today and tomorrow you can do whatever you want because school is when you need to concentrate on the mission. You can go back to bed if you want, but it's a bad idea long term because of the jet lag.' Heather finished her speech and got up, taking the mission briefings with her, probably to burn.

Ayla put her bowl and plate in the sink with a loud clang, the only noise in their awkward silence. She returned to the table with a smile.

'Let's go out. Who has an iPhone?' she asked cheerfully, desperate to end this.

Christian pulled his hand out of his pocket and slid the phone across the table top towards Ayla's hands. She opened up Google Maps and found the closest cinema.

'We could go eat, bowling and watch a film?' Ayla said. It wasn't a question. The others nodded slowly. She passed the phone back to Christian and they all pulled on their shoes. Outside it was freezing and frost lined the bushes along the street. The three picked their way carefully down the quiet, icy road. They found the complex at the next junction, looking out-of-place, and approached hoping that it was warm inside. Sure enough, a warm breeze blew Ayla's hair back as soon she passed through the automatic doors. They walked up the escalator in silence, and Christian paid for their tickets to the bowling alley using some of the money that CHERUB had given them for the mission. They had three long games, which Quinn won all of, and Ayla noticed that they were warming to each other. She suspected that the main reason they were so cold to each other was that they had not really been friends in a while. But by the time they saw a comedy, came out of the cinema and crossed to a pizza restaurant, both Christian and Quinn were talking and even joking a bit. Ayla was pleased that the mission would not pass in silence, and joined in with enthusiasm. Their Saturday finished with a pleasant, not-at-all awkward silence sitting in the living room. Quinn was scribbling in a notebook, Christian was watching the TV, and Ayla was doodling in her sketchbook because her Art teacher Mr Fenning had told her to practice.

On the Sunday they sat in the living room all day, eating and messing around. Christian and Quinn were good company when they weren't exceedingly angry with each other. When Ayla stretched out in bed on Sunday night, she found herself excited for school the next day and ready to meet this Jake Carlton.

**A/N: Please review what you thought!**


	15. Jake

**A/N: I've hit 20 reviews! This week thanks to frufrux and the Guest who both reviewed, it means so much to me xx For those this update was quite quick!**

15. JAKE

Ayla woke up warm and comfortable to the sound of knocking at her bedroom door. She groaned and got up with the duvet wrapped around her to walk to the door. It was Christian, waiting and eating a bowl of cereal at the speed of light.

'Hurry up!' he said between mouthfuls. 'We are sooo late. Get dressed.'

Ayla swore and shut the door as he ran back down the stairs, balancing his bowl carefully. She threw on some clothes; anything would do, and sprinted downstairs. Heather was there at the kitchen table, with Quinn who looked very smug.

'I'm being "home-schooled".' Quinn grinned. 'So I don't have to wake up early every day.'

'Why are you awake then?!' Ayla exclaimed, calling behind her as she pulled on her shoes and took the piece of toast from Heather's outstretched hand.

'Cause I'm a good agent!' Quinn called, as Ayla followed Christian out of the front door and onto the street. She popped a breath mint in her mouth and arrived on the pavement just as their new school bus wheezed to a halt in front of their yard. Christian smiled encouragingly at Ayla as he got on the bus first. She avoided looking at the few other people already sitting near the back, and sat down quickly next to Christian near the front. Fortunately they were near the beginning of the bus route. She grimaced at him as they drove further into the city, and he flashed a nervy smile.

'At least you don't have to make a good impression on anyone!' Ayla whispered in protest. He just rolled his eyes.

'I still have to get good grades so Carlton's company takes me on for work experience.' Christian muttered. They stopped talking about that as soon as a pair of kids sat in the two seats directly in front of them. Luckily there was only a short distance left to Jefferson Middle School and soon enough Ayla and Christian were standing outside the double doors, watching other kids filter in around them.

'It'll be fine. Just chill.' he nodded, and together they ducked inside the building. Jefferson Middle School was just your typical American Middle School. The floors were shone with the reflection of feet but there were lots of skid marks from trainers. Yellow lockers lined the walls and there were very few windows in the corridors. Ayla thought it was quite dingy compared to England. They were swept up in the bustle of kids finding their lockers, getting their books, slamming doors, moving towards classrooms. It was very difficult to actually move at all in the crowd, and it took Ayla and Christian quite a few minutes to walk only a few metres towards the door of the reception. They were given their timetables quickly – they were in different classes, unfortunately – and were given their locker numbers, and were told to get to their first classes quickly before the tardy sweep. Ayla parted ways with Christian outside the reception door and they sprinted in opposite directions. She found herself confused by the map that was much too detailed, but eventually she found the classroom door. It was English first, something she could do, but this was the USA. And in that classroom in front of her was Jake Carlton, who she had to make a good impression on so that they could become friends and she could lie to him. Ayla drew in one deep breath and knocked on the door.

The teacher answered it with an expression that said _I know who you are and I know why you're late which sucks because I wanted to give you detention_. Ayla tried a smile and sat down in the seat she was directed to. Her assumed surname was Knight, so she was in the centre of the classroom. Ayla looked left and right, trying to locate Jake Carlton as the teacher – Mrs Hammond – began the lesson. After a couple of minutes of comparing faces to photographs she had seen a few days before, Ayla recognised him. He was sitting in the second row back on her left hand side. She was seated behind him, which was good because it meant that she could observe him inconspicuously. Jake Carlton was average boy height. He had dark, medium length hair and a slight tan. It looked like he was listening to whatever Mrs Hammond was saying but Ayla could spot a practiced fake-listener. He was writing what seemed like notes on his paper, but she suspected that he was actually doodling. She wondered how to get his attention…definitely not to be clever in class, though. Maybe at lunch…or maybe just talk to people and find out who else he was friends with.

Eventually English ended, and Ayla followed the class to the Science room, where she was partnered up with a girl with dreadlocks tied back in a ponytail, whose name was Lexi. Ayla got on well with Lexi and they had a good laugh over their different accents and lack of Science skill. But that wasn't the best part of the lesson. Ayla and Lexi were sitting across the table from Jake Carlton and his partner, Dan, who Lexi seemed to have a crush on! None of the four wanted to listen, and so the practical session ended up with Lexi and Dan talking, which left Ayla opposite Jake.

'What's your name?' she asked with a grin.

'I'm Jake.' he said. 'Ayla, right?'

'Yeah.' she nodded, unable to help the rush that came with him knowing her name. She was doing something right.

'Where did you come from?' he drawled, and their conversation just flowed. Ayla knew exactly what to say when it came to questions about her hobbies, because she also knew exactly what Jake liked and disliked. The Science lesson ended perfectly, Jake having got the impression that Ayla was the ideal friend for him. She went to lunch with all the excitement that came with starting at a new school.

As soon as she came out of the cafeteria queue with a full tray, she spotted Jake sitting and eating with a couple of friends. She was relieved that some were girls, because she didn't want it to be awkward. Ayla sat down next to him.

'Mind if join?' she asked, and he nodded, grinning.

'So this is the English one!' someone exclaimed, and Ayla knew that meant that Jake had told them about her. Hopefully. She acted friendly and as confident as she could be, while in reality her stomach was twisting in on itself with all these lies that she was telling.

**A/N: Please review what you thought :)**


	16. Recording

**A/N: Sorry this has taken so long! Thanks for all reviews and merry Christmas Eve everyone! :)**

16. RECORDING

A week passed at Jefferson Middle School and Ayla was friends with Jake Carlton. They had most classes together and Jake would often wink at her during a lecture or in a particularly boring lesson. The thrill was gone but Ayla was pleased she was doing well. On the second day Ayla had planted a bug on Jake's backpack, which allowed Quinn to listen and record everything she heard throughout the day. Christian was also doing well, with top grades in most of his classes. On the first day of their second week, some new information came to Quinn and she told Ayla as soon as she got home.

'Hey!' Ayla smiled as she came in, seeing Quinn at the table. 'Where's Heather?'

'Out shopping.' Quinn said quickly, smiling in greeting at Chris.

'What's up?' Chris asked. He was always able to tell when Quinn wasn't alright. Sure enough, she bit her lip and looked away from him.

'I need to talk to Ayla.' she said, looking directly at Ayla. 'Alone.' she clarified when Chris didn't immediately leave. He got the picture and backed out of the room with a grin.

'What happened?' Ayla asked with concern. Quinn beckoned for her to come closer towards the computers and recording equipment she had set up on the kitchen table.

'I heard something today on the bug you put on Jake's bag.' Quinn told her, flicking through several voice recordings she had saved as files on the laptop. When she reached the right one, she pressed play and Ayla listened carefully.

'_**What do you think of her?' **_

'That's Dan.' Ayla whispered quickly. It sounded like they were watching someone and talking.

'_**She's pretty perfect, man.' **_

'That's Jake.' she muttered, wondering who they were talking about. The background noise made it sound like they were in a crowded hallway.

'_**That it?' **_Dan asked again.

'_**She's fit as! I think at my house party…' **_Jake trailed off.

'_**You'll make a move?'**_

'_**Definitely. D'you think I should flirt more? She thinks we're just friends.'**_

'_**It's up to you. With Ayla, I'd say maybe yeah but you know her better than me.' **_Dan muttered, and Ayla's eyes almost bugged out as she heard that.

'_**I think I will. Shit, I'll miss the bus if I don't hurry. Later, Dan.'**_

'_**See you, mate.'**_

Quinn stopped the recording with a click of the track pad and then turned to look meaningfully at Ayla. She was still in shock and could barely meet Quinn's gaze.

'You see what this has told us?' Quinn asked.

'What?' Ayla asked, dumfounded.

'Jake likes you and Jake is throwing a party. So that's how you play him to get closer and that's how you get into his house!' Quinn exclaimed, grinning excitedly.

'But he…likes me? Why?' Ayla made a face. 'I don't like me.'

Quinn laughed. 'The way we've done it, you're perfect for him. And he's realised that. So you're practically finished, we just have to wait for the party.'

'Oh my god. OK. Oh god. This means I have to make an effort in the mornings!' Ayla groaned.

'Don't worry. I'll tell you if I hear anything. But play along with the flirting, yeah?' Quinn nudged her.

'Um, yeah. I'm gonna go upstairs, do homework. Thanks, Quinn.' Ayla nodded, sliding off the chair and walking out of the room dazedly.

'Don't walk into any doors!' She heard Quinn's amused voice filter through the wall, and she rolled her eyes.

The evening passed without event and Ayla could barely sleep when she crawled into bed after supper.

'Morning, Ayla.' Jake smiled at her. This time she noticed how his eyes flicked to look at all of her. She grinned back.

'Hey, Jake.' she nodded.

It was the next day and she had just walked in. He was waiting inside, right next to the door when she came in. As she strolled towards her locker, he followed.

'So I had something to tell you.' he said.

'Oh yeah?' Ayla asked, gathering her books. She had a feeling what he wanted to say.

'I'm having a house party this Saturday night.' he told her.

'Cool.' Ayla said with a small smile. She knew what she was doing to him.

'So…do you want to come?' he asked eventually, with a hopeful note in his voice.

'Sure! That sounds great. Who else is going?'

'Lots of people. Don't know half of them.' Jake said with a shrug of his shoulders, and Ayla knew he was showing off.

'Well I'll look forward to it.' she said, flashing a smile. 'I have to go to Art now, though.'

'I'll let you go this time.' he grinned with a wink. 'Have fun! See you at recess.'

'Bye!' she called over her shoulder as she crossed the now busy corridor.

That evening when she got home Quinn gave her a big hug.

'What?!' she asked, confused.

'Good job today. He's completely into you.' she said with a smile.

'What's going on?' Chris interrupted.

'Jake likes Ayla…' Quinn teased her with a huge grin on her face.

'No way. Nice job, Ay!' Chris laughed.

'Also, you're both invited to Jake's house party on Saturday night. I need back-up in case things go wrong.' Ayla told them seriously.

'Oh, sure.' Chris confirmed, and Quinn nodded too.

'I need to see some people who aren't you guys, as well.' Quinn laughed with a sigh.

'Yeah you do.' Ayla stuck her tongue out. 'Where's Heather now?'

'I don't even know. Probably shopping. She's a crappy mother.' Quinn smirked.

'That's for sure.' Chris rolled his eyes.

'I need to go shopping, I don't have any clothes. At this rate I'll be wearing trackies to Jake's party.' Ayla cringed.

'I'll come, if you want. Friday.' Quinn said.

'I'll try and get invited to someone's house, then.' Chris said, acting left out.

'Aww. Sorry, but you're not great with clothes.' Quinn grimaced, and Ayla laughed.

'Anyway. I'll see you at supper. Might do some homework, if I can be bothered?' Ayla wiggled her eyebrows and waved, leaving Christian and Quinn alone. She knew that one of the two would leave soon after. They weren't quite back to normal, not enough that they could hold a conversation by themselves without it being awkward. Ayla sighed and climbed the stairs, looking forward to Saturday but feeling nervous at the same time.

**A/N: Please rate and review :)**


	17. Party

**A/N: This one came so quickly because I had already written most of it :p Hope you enjoy!**

17. PARTY

Ayla shifted in the cold backseat of the car. She was wearing a thin jumper and leggings with boots, and outside it was almost snowing. Christian and Quinn were squashed on either side of her, and Heather was finally doing a mum thing and driving them to Jake's house. As they parked outside and Heather saw the steady stream of people entering, she finally gave them the talk.

'Now remember. You are agents. You are not here to drink and have fun, you are here to finish your mission. I don't want anyone coming home drunk or worse. And remember, take any drugs and you'll be kicked out of CHERUB faster than you can think possible. Good luck.' she added at the end.

'Thanks, _Mum_.' Quinn said sarcastically, and opened the car door.

'Bye! Do exactly what we planned!' Heather called as Ayla and Chris started to climb out as well. They made their way up the front yard to Jake's house. Ayla couldn't believe that Jimmy Carlton would just go on holiday and leave Jake alone all weekend. She hoped for Jake's sake that the house didn't get too messed up. Luckily, she was feeling confident because this was the last step in their mission. Quinn had worked out where Jimmy Carlton was through listening meticulously to the conversations she was able to hear between Jake and Jimmy when they were at home – Saudi Arabia. This meant that something was happening at the Mahabeth police agency there and they had to act quickly to find out what it was. The party could not have come at a better time. Chris had also secured a place as Carlton's intern and that would take place next week. So the end of their mission was rushed.

Ayla crept through the living room, which was now full of dancing bodies. They were fashionably an hour or so late. The party was pretty awesome, but she needed to find Jake if this mission was going to go to plan. When Ayla went into the kitchen she spotted him drinking a can of beer.

'Jake!' she called, waving.

'Hey, Ayla.' he grabbed her hand as she reached him. 'Let's go upstairs.'

They elbowed their way through the crowds and up the stairs. This was perfect. Ayla had asked Quinn to make sure she was in Jake's bedroom with a guy as soon as they arrived. It would give her an excuse to be in his parents' bedroom. Exactly as planned, Jake opened his bedroom door to see Quinn making out with some random boy Ayla didn't know.

'Let's go to your parents' room.' she tugged his arm, and he willingly followed her. As soon as they were inside he closed the door. 'Want some? I had one earlier.' Ayla said, offering him a small bottle of alcohol that Dave had helped her to lace with a chemical to make him really need to pee. He immediately took it and downed it in one.

'Come over here.' he grinned, sitting on his parents' bed. Ayla crossed the room nervously, unsure what was going to happen. Jake leaned in and kissed her hard. She could tell he was drunk.

'I've wanted to do that for ages.' he breathed, before going again.

Ayla kissed back a bit, wondering how long the drink was going to take. His tongue slipped into her mouth as he ran his hands over her back. It was alright, but she had to keep reminding herself that this was for the mission anyway. Ayla hoped she wouldn't have to keep getting guys to fall in love her on missions…Just before his hands could move round to her chest, he stilled. Ayla grinned inwardly, knowing what was happening.

'I have to go pee quickly.' he said, and she drew back, relaxing onto the bed.

'Take as long as you like.' Ayla smiled, starting to take off her shoes and socks. His eyes widened as he realised what she meant, then he left slowly.

As soon as the door shut Ayla ran over to the computer on a desk in the corner. She inserted the disc that Dave had given her and waited for fifteen seconds exactly as the contents of the computer were copied onto the disc. Then she put the disc in her pocket and pulled on her shoes again. She quickly stuck several listening bugs around on the walls. As she put the last one above the computer, she spotted a sticker poking out from the back of the monitor. Ayla looked around the back and **WI8 2LK** was printed on it. Checking the door again, she pulled her temporary mobile phone out and snapped a photo, then raced out of the room. She saw the bathroom door opening at the end of the corridor, and ducked into the nearest room. It was pitch black and probably the nursery, she suspected. It was for the Carltons' unborn baby, of course. Ayla saw Jake pass the door and go into his parent's room. Just as the door shut she sprinted out, slamming bugs onto each of the doors along the corridor, and ran down the stairs and out the front door, stopping only once she was behind a tree next to his house.

Ayla pulled out her phone again and called Quinn quickly.

'I've done it. Can you cover the ground floor with bugs and inside doors of each upstairs room?'

'Yeah, sure. I'm out of Jake's room. Where are you?' she asked.

'I had to get out quickly. When you're done get Christian and meet me outside. Make sure you don't talk to Jake or let him see you! He'll be looking for me.' Ayla told her.

'OK. Shit, he's coming. Gotta go see you soon.'

She hung up. Ayla breathed out a sigh of relief and sat down on the ground behind the tree. About ten minutes later she spotted Christian and Quinn coming out of Jake's front garden. Ayla stood up carefully and motioned to them. They checked behind them, looking back to the house, and then came over to her.

'I told people our mum called wondering where we were and she was mad.' Christian told Ayla.

'Great. Did Jake see you?' she asked them nervously.

'Nope, but I'm sure if he asks other people where we went they'll tell him what Chris said.' Quinn reassured her. Then she turned to Christian. 'Who was that girl you were with?' she asked, lowering her voice. Ayla sped up to walk ahead of them.

'Just a friend, in my class.' he told her.

'She looked like an airhead. Why are you friends with her?'

'So did that guy you took upstairs.' he countered. 'Why did you make out with him?'

Ayla listened harder but couldn't quite hear what they were saying. They seriously needed to kiss or something. She thought about trying to set them up, but the mission was enough work, to be honest. They would work it out eventually. At least tonight had gone well, even if Jake was suspicious. She wasn't sure what was going to happen the following week at school, because they had to stay until Wednesday when Chris would do his work experience. Hopefully Heather would let her be ill or something, because she really wasn't up to seeing him again. Ayla just hoped that he wouldn't be upset.

**A/N: Please r&r :) **


	18. Back

**A/N: Thanks for all the lovely reviews! Tried to write this quickly :)**

18. BACK

For the rest of the week Ayla stayed in the house. She talked to Heather after the party and together they agreed that the best was for Ayla to be ill and not go to school so that Jake wouldn't ask her any questions. If he asked Chris, the story was that Ayla suddenly felt sick at his party because she had too much to drink and they took her home. Then for the school week she had bronchitis. They were planning to leave on Sunday the 16th of December, or that was when Heather and Dave had booked the flight for anyway. Christian was due his work experience on Wednesday the 12th, and then they were pretty much finished as long as that went well. He would go to school until Friday the 14th when Jefferson Middle School broke up for their Christmas holidays, and then they would disappear with the excuse that Dave didn't like his job. Chris would do all the goodbyes, which Ayla was pleased about. That meant she wouldn't have to lie to anyone else's face. But she was replying to Jake's texts.

Monday morning found her lying in bed, duvet drawn up to her chin.

'What are you doing?' Quinn asked as she banged open the bedroom door.

'I'm sleeping.' Ayla muttered.

'It's 12 o'clock.' Quinn replied, sitting on the blue armchair.

'And I'm ill, right? I gotta play the part.' she said, voice muffled by the duvet. 'Anyway, aren't you supposed to be listening to everything Jake says?'

'It's boring.' Quinn complained. 'All he says is about you. I get the picture. Plus I don't really have to.'

'You have to make sure he's not suspicious!' Ayla said, suddenly waking up a bit, and propping herself up on her elbows.

'He's not. He's talked to Chris and everything.'

'How is that, by the way?' Ayla asked with a grin, sitting up properly. Quinn showed her disapproval on her face.

'Shut up.'

'C'mon, have you guys kissed and made up?'

'What do you mean kissed? And no, ugh no.' Quinn shuddered.

'Aww c'mon I'm not stupid. You two –'

'No no no! That's weird. I think we're friends now, maybe.' Quinn protested.

'Are you sure?'

'Well we had an argument on Saturday night…'

'About what? Who disliked the other's partner more?' Ayla grinned.

'No! Yeah, basically… But that doesn't mean we like each other. It means we dislike each other's taste in the opposite gender.' Quinn rambled.

'Okay, you guys need to get together or I might scream.' Ayla said before clicking her jaw.

'What about you?' Quinn asked.

'…What about me?' Ayla returned.

'You must like someone back at CHERUB…' Quinn thought. 'You hang out with Theo, Rufus and Ed, right? They're all single. Which one?'

'None of them! They're just friends.'

'It's Theo, isn't it?' Quinn laughed. 'Ah, I got it!'

'No!' Ayla yelled, but she was blushing and confused. What did she feel? 'I don't know alright?!'

'If you say so…' Quinn raised an eyebrow, but couldn't help grinning.

'Welcome back!' Rose squealed across the CHERUB main building lobby as she pelted towards her friend. Ayla blinked and swayed on her feet, and then Rose wrapped her in a huge bear hug. 'Well done! Lyddie's on a mission! I'm stuck here! How was it?! You ok?!'

'I'm kinda tired…' Ayla shrugged, barely able to stay on her feet.

'Yeah you look it…' Rose stepped back and surveyed her friend critically. 'Come on I'll take your bag. Hey.' Rose nodded to Quinn and Chris, who were also standing there awkwardly. They nodded back. Ayla waved goodbye as she stumbled off to follow Rose towards the lift.

'I'll just let you sleep. We can talk in the morning.' Rose told her when they reached Ayla's room, and she crept down the hall towards her own room.

Ayla collapsed into bed, exhausted. It was about 4 o'clock in the morning for her brain's current time zone. She had not slept on the plane back so everything was spinning. Ayla closed her eyes slowly, glad of two things: one, that Christian had finished the mission perfectly; and two, that CHERUB were on Christmas holidays now so she could sleep for as long as she wanted.

'Good morning, sleeping beauty!' Theo exclaimed, hugging Ayla. She was in the canteen at 10 o'clock. Rose had insisted that she didn't sleep for any longer than that or she would be jet-lagged forever. But Ayla didn't appreciate this thought because she was still exhausted.

'Hello, Theo.' she muttered, detaching herself and sitting down. Everything was so confusing in the morning. Theo was nice, but so were Rufus and Ed. Admittedly Theo was nice looking. He did look a little like James Bond, with bright blue eyes and short, dark blonde hair. She wasn't able to think about this now. Ayla grabbed toast and sat down again to eat slowly with her eyes half-closed.

Someone tapped the back of her chair, so Ayla opened her eyes with a groan and twisted around.

'Welcome back, Ayla Adrian.' said Jason with a grin. Ayla smiled back, looking around him for Aaron. 'Oh, Mr Cross is on a mission with your Lydia.' Jason explained.

'Ohh.' Ayla nodded. 'Thanks. I'm kind of tired so…'

'I'll go. HAVE A GOOD DAY.' Jason shouted in her ear, and Ayla almost cried. He left with a laugh.

'Why are people so mean?' Ayla asked the table at large, but no one had a serious answer to share with her.

They spent the day as a group, studying a bit for some mock exams and helping Ayla catch up. She had never seen so much work in her life. They had GCSEs in summer so apparently missions were scarce. Then in the evening they gathered in Rose's room again.

'How about truth or dare?' Rose asked, after they had a debate about what to do.

'We could do 7 minutes in heaven.' Rufus added.

'No, that's not fair. We don't have an equal number of girls and boys.' Ed reasoned.

'Truth or dare, then.' Ayla sighed.

Chaos ensued as Rufus poured a pint of milk over his head, Rose confessed to what she'd done with a boy on a mission a while ago, and Ayla was forced to climb out of the window and hold on to the roof for a full minute. And then Ed dared Theo to kiss Ayla.

'Uh…where?' he asked.

'On the lips! On the lips!' they all chanted. Ayla looked on awkwardly.

'Does everyone have to be watching?' Theo asked.

'How else will we know you've done it?!' said Rose. After more persuasion Theo moved next to Ayla, sitting on the arm of her chair. She screwed up her eyes and turned towards him. Theo leant in slowly and kissed her on the lips. Ayla pulled away and everyone clapped. To be honest, she was sort of relieved, because she hadn't felt anything when it happened.

'My turn now.' said Theo. 'Payback time…Ed, snog Rose.'

Ayla stared in horror. It was Rufus who liked Rose! This was going to be awkward…

'Just going for a drink.' said Ayla, walking around the corner to the mini-fridge where she wouldn't be able to see them. She opened the fridge door and waited. Then she heard them cheer, so she grabbed a bottle of water. As she shut the door, Theo came around the corner towards her and pushed her against the fridge, shutting it completely. He put his hands on either side of her head, palms flat on the wall, and stared into her eyes before moving closer. Ayla panicked.

'No, Theo!' she whispered. The others were busy with some new dare.

'What's wrong?' he asked, hurt visible in his eyes.

'I…don't like you like that…' she tried, feeling guilty.

'Oh, okay.' he nodded, releasing her and taking a step back.

'Of course I like you as a friend, though! I'm really sorry. Maybe some other time.' she said in a hushed whisper, trying to appease him. He seemed to get it, though.

'It's fine, alright? Don't worry.' he said, turning back towards the group. Ayla watched him walk away around the corner and sighed.

**A/N: Please rate & review! Thanks for reading!**


	19. Christmas

**A/N: There is swearing in this chapter so don't read if you don't want to hear it! Also, sorry this was meant to be out closer to Christmas :p Hope you enjoy the quick update though! :)**

19. CHRISTMAS

The week before Christmas was a good one. Ayla and her friends spent money buying presents in town, and the news came on the 21st that there was going to be a party on Christmas Eve. That meant that Ayla and Rose had to go dress shopping, apparently, so Rose took her into town on the 22nd, a Saturday.

'So what do you want?' Rose asked her for the tenth time that day, as they entered one of the high-street shops.

'I still don't know, Rose! Something nice.' Ayla smiled.

'Well that was pretty obvious. You're actually hopeless.'

'I've never had a dress, so I dunno what types there are.' Ayla said honestly.

'Wow. Well I'll educate you.'

Ayla spent the next few hours with Rose, rifling through dresses and skirts. They didn't have very many in the shop, according to Rose, so they visited multiple shops. Fortunately Ayla found something short and green with T-shirt sleeves that she liked. More to the point, fortunately Rose liked it too so she was allowed to buy it. They also saw Quinn in the third shop they went to, because Rose was still looking for her own dress.

'Hey, Quinn.' Ayla grinned.

'Oh, hi. Looking for party clothes?' she asked.

'Of course…any luck with that?'

'Sort of. But I'll see you there, anyway.' Quinn nodded.

'Have you had any luck with that other thing?' Ayla asked, smiling. Quinn's smile disappeared when she realised that Ayla was referring to Chris, and she frowned.

'No because it's not happening, okay, bye!' she waved and dashed off to a changing room, clutching several hangers.

'What happened?' Rose questioned, watching Quinn disappear.

'Doesn't matter. Not my secret to tell.' Ayla winked, and Rose groaned. Then she brightened up.

'Ooh! Look at that dress! It's amazing!'

'My shoes…make fucking stupid noises when I walk!' Ayla yelled at Rose. She was laughing her head off.

'They're heels, Ayla. Get over it!' she giggled.

'Fuck them!'

'Ay, I think we drank too much!' Rose squealed, clutching her side.

'C'mon, you two. Come with me.' said Rufus as he appeared, and took them both by the hand.

'No, no, Rufy. I'm not having a threesome now.' said Rose, pulling his curly hair.

'I'm taking you both back to your rooms. You need to lie down.' he said calmly, shaking her hand away from his hair.

'I won't lie down with you, Rufus Tell.' Rose giggled, turning so she was pressing into him. He kept walking, ignoring her. Ayla watched them as she was dragged alongside.

'You guys need to lie down together.' Ayla laughed.

'OK, that's it. I can't take both of you.' Rufus stopped in his tracks.

A familiar voice came from behind them. 'I'll take this one, Rufus.'

They all turned around together, shuffling slowly.

'Fucking shoes.' Ayla swore at her feet.

When she looked up Rufus was pushing her towards Aaron Czoss.

'Hello.' she said to him politely. He stifled a grin.

'Hey, Ayla.' He put one hand on her back and guided her through the party towards the elevator.

'Where are…we going?' Ayla slurred. He looked down at her, amused.

'To your room.'

Out of the corner of her eye she thought she saw Jason thumbs up Aaron. They reached the elevator and Aaron pushed her in.

'So.' Ayla said. He looked kind of fit in his shirt.

'So what?' he raised an eyebrow.

'So, when did you get back?' she asked. The lift doors opened but neither of them got out. Ayla was starting to sober up a little. His eyes widened. She looked back at him. He had nice eyes.

He still didn't speak. Ayla almost got out when he grabbed her hand.

'Wait,' he said, and kissed her so softly. It was the best kiss she'd ever had. His lips felt and tasted sweet. Ayla parted her mouth and he groaned quietly, pushing her against the elevator wall. He had his hands lightly on her waist, while Ayla's were around his neck. Eventually they left, still kissing. He kicked open her door and they went in.

'By the way, I just got back.' he grinned.

'Is Lyddie back?'

'Wouldn't you prefer me?' he asked, before going in again, keeping her mouth a little too busy to answer. Eventually he spoke again, taking a breath at the same time. 'So are we going out now or what?' he grinned as he pulled off his shirt to reveal this perfect chest she'd never seen.

'You tell me.' Ayla let him lift off her dress. They toppled onto Ayla's bed together and he looked quite seriously at her.

'I've had this dream so many times.' he muttered, unable to quite meet her eyes.

She couldn't help smiling. 'Shut up! You talk too much!'

They kissed for a while and then he pulled away and got up.

'I should go. We gotta take this slow. Plus you're drunk.' he said, frowning.

'Seriously? You're the one saying that? And I'm not drunk!' Ayla laughed.

He looked puzzled and decided at the same time.

'Drink some water and go to sleep. I'll see you in the morning. Merry Christmas, by the way.' he smiled.

'Aaron Cross, you are the best boy I've ever met.' she shoved him out the door with his shirt. Then Ayla collapsed against the back of the door, unable to wipe a huge grin off her face.

'Fuck those shoes. Aaron likes me.' she murmured.

**A/N: Hope you liked, please r&r your thoughts :)**


	20. Issues

**A/N: So sorry for the long wait! Thank you sooo much to everyone who reviewed the last chapter, it means so much to me and I'm sorry I couldn't finish this sooner! Mocks are almost done so updates should come sooner from now on but feel free to prompt me! :)**

20. ISSUES

Ayla awoke on Christmas Day with a throbbing hangover, messy hair, and the pang of regret in her stomach. It was 10:00am but no one had come to wake her up, probably because almost everyone on her floor had been at the party. Despite her headache and other distracting emotions, she couldn't help but look forward to a Christmas Day with people she considered friends, and maybe with presents as well. After all, she had bought Rose, Lyddie, Theo, Ed and Rufus all presents. Then there was the matter of Aaron, which automatically moved to the front of her mind. What she had done the night before had been stupid and impulsive and Ayla couldn't afford to be doing things like that. If he became her boyfriend, how was she supposed to kiss and get closer to other boys on missions? If he became her boyfriend, how was she supposed to trust him on missions? They had only known each other for a few months, and not well. They had not talked much during that time. Ayla knew that falling for Aaron would be the worst thing she could do if she wanted to stay at CHERUB. She also knew that there was no way Aaron could want to be her boyfriend, even if he liked her a bit. She was awkward and if he got to knew her properly he definitely wouldn't want her.

Ayla threw her duvet off with an angry sigh, mostly annoyed with Aaron and herself for messing up her first good Christmas morning. There was a knock on her bedroom door and Ayla jumped up.

'One second!' she called, and quickly brushed her hair up into a ponytail, before pulling on jeans and a jumper from the chest of drawers. She ran across the room in her socks and pulled open the door to see Rose and Lyddie looked just as exhausted, with frizzy hair and bags under their eyes.

'Morning, beauties.' Ayla said with a grin, and motioned for them to come inside. Rose flopped straight down onto the floor, while Lyddie collapsed on Ayla's armchair. Ayla sat back down on her bed.

'I'm sooo tired.' Rose groaned, and Ayla laughed.

'Who isn't? Merry Christmas, by the way.' She said.

The others repeated their Christmas wishes, and then Lyddie sat up a bit.

'What happened with Aaron? You were with him, right?' she asked. Ayla twisted her lip with her teeth. This was time to decide.

'Nothing happened, he just helped me upstairs.' Ayla lied, shrugging. Rose frowned.

'Really? Oh.' she said. Lyddie looked disappointed too.

'I thought because it was Christmas Eve he would…never mind. What about you, Rose?'

Rose shrugged as well. 'Same with me and Rufus. He just took me upstairs.'

'Oh, ok.' Lyddie nodded. 'Shall we get breakfast? Presents are downstairs in the hall.'

Ayla forgot all about Aaron as she smiled. 'We get presents, then?'

'Of course! C'mon.' Rose grabbed her arm. 'Let's get some water on the way for the hangovers, yeah?'

Ayla managed to avoid Aaron for all of Christmas Day, even when he tried to talk to her. On Boxing Day CHERUB had its annual 'Olympics Games' held on the grounds. They had almost every sport, except for rowing, canoeing and more sports with specific venues. With this whole campus event, Ayla was sure that she would have to talk to him at some point, but he seemed to have got the idea. Ayla's dormitory block, Block 3, would be competing against the other 4 blocks. Aaron was in her block, on her floor even, so Ayla was sure that she would be seeing him at some point. Their first event was cycling, so she followed Rose, Lyddie and the rest of their block to the base of the hill at the edge of CHERUB's fields. Each block had one bicycle, and they would be doing a relay – with half the team at the top of the hill and half at the bottom. Ayla got nominated to be at the top, so she had to trudge up along with Rose, Theo and other people but luckily not Aaron.

Everything was fine until they piled into the swimming pool at the other end of campus. Ayla somehow ended up squashed near the end of the bench squeezed in between Aaron and another American 8 year old girl who Ayla thought was called Elizabeth. Each event took a long time because each block had 3 teams, and Ayla and Aaron were only in the last event, the squadron relay where everyone had to join in. That was a long time to try and ignore someone for. He knew something was up, so he didn't speak for a bit.

'You ok?' he eventually asked after the first race.

'Oh! Yeah, yeah.' Ayla nodded, like nothing was wrong in the world.

'Um, okay…so why have you been ignoring me?'

'I haven't been ignoring you!' Ayla's expression could have won first prize for the worst lie ever. Surprisingly, Aaron didn't fall for it.

'Are we just forgetting what happened…?' he pressed.

'Yeah, yeah, sure.' Ayla said casually.

'Okay, then.' he turned back to glare at the pool water. Ayla squeezed her eyes shut with frustration. He suddenly turned back and she tried to look normal.

'But are we friends?' he asked her. She couldn't help looking at his brown eyes and regretting.

'Yeah, course.' she replied. Otherwise everything would suck.

'Cool.' he said, and soon they were having a normal conversation again. Ayla liked this, just talking, without any strings attached to anything they said or did. Just two friends laughing together.

'But seriously, haven't you noticed?' he asked again, laughing. They were talking about people walking past, who were going up for their races.

'What, that her eyes are black?'

'Yeah. They have no colour. It's weird.'

Ayla just smirked at him.

'Hey, look. Elizabeth's bag. Let's have a look in here.' he grinned, picking the bag off the floor from next to me.

Ayla laughed and Elizabeth, next to her, frowned at Aaron.

'Hmm, no food…' he muttered. Ayla reached down into the bag and pulled out some love hearts. She cleared her throat awkwardly and handed them to him. Why did she have to pull these out of all things?

Luckily Aaron just grinned and laughed. 'Lizbeth? Can I eat some? Or are these for someone else?' he called, wiggling his eyebrows.

'Sure, I just got them cos they were the only candy in the lobby vending machine…' she replied.

'Ooh, candy. Very American. But nice. Thanks.' he added, ripping open the packet.

Aaron quickly started laughing.

'What?' Ayla asked him curiously.

'Love these messages…they make me laugh.'

'Let's hear them?' she asked, grinning, and then realised how awkward she had just made things.

'I love you, hot guy, love me, kiss me…etc.' he laughed. Ayla laughed along with him, but it was partly forced because she was feeling so awkward after their talk.

'Oh, and, blue eyes.' he said, looking into Ayla's own blue eyes. His face was quite serious, until a small smile crossed his face. Ayla smiled back, and then realised what had happened. She was reeling inside with confusion for just a moment, and then the whistle sounded for the squadron relay to assemble. She was left to follow everyone else, watching Aaron from a safe distance and wondering.

**A/N: Thanks for reading, please rate and review :)**


	21. Television

**A/N: Oh god, I'm sooooo sorryyyy this is so late, i don't know how late but i swear it's been months! I feel so bad! Excuses: skiing, mocks, general tiredness/laziness... SORRY! hopefully i'll get back into the habit! Got some more music to spur me on :)**

21. TELEVISION

The downside of the Christmas holidays was that Ayla still had to have school, because she had missed out so much of the autumn term for her mission. Luckily most other people had lessons as well, but Rose didn't and she felt the need to rub this fact in Ayla's face whenever she could. The only benefit to this extra work was that Ayla had a feeling that a mission was imminent. She had spotted Zara watching her one evening at the track when she was running, but Zara had left before Ayla could approach her. She just hoped that this mission would come after New Year's Day, because according to Rose and Lydia there was a big party on New Year's Eve that would be bad to miss. With this logic, Ayla kept her distance from the Mission Building, and she didn't see Zara at all. And then, with two days to go until New Year's Eve, Robbie approached her when she was leaving a stressful Art class, her last lesson of the day.

'Can you guess what I'm going to say?' he asked, curly hair bouncing into his eyes as he grinned.

'Um…no!' Ayla said honestly and nervously.

'You, me, Rufus, Feenie. Mission.'

That was all he said before jogging off past her, saluting her as she called after him. Ayla decided to find Rufus, as he might be a more useful source of information than Robbie. But if she hadn't known, then what were the chances of Rufus knowing? It was worth a try. Ayla crossed the campus by the outside route in the crisp evening air, grass crunching with frost underneath her trainers. She entered her dormitory block and stamped her feet on the mat, her breath making clouds in the air. Up the stairs on her floor, Rufus was actually waiting for her outside her door. He spun around when he heard her footsteps.

'Oh! I just knocked!' he laughed. 'I have some news.'

Ayla nodded. 'Robbie told me already. The mission, right?'

'Yeah.' he said, obviously disappointed not to be the one imparting the news.

'So what's going on?' Ayla asked, leaning against the wall next to him.

'Didn't you wonder why it was us four chosen?'

'I dunno…I didn't really think about it.' she replied, confused.

'We're all runners, Ayla. And, jeez, we have the coolest mission EVER.' Rufus revealed.

'Just tell me what the mission is!' Ayla burst out.

'Can't. Been sworn to secrecy. But we're leaving on the 7th of January, and you're getting your briefing with Feenie tomorrow. Wait for the phone call.' he told her, and started walking away to his door.

'JUST TELL ME WHAT THE MISSION IS!' Ayla yelled.

Rufus tapped the side of his nose and slipped into his room with an infuriating grin plastered across his face. Ayla let out a sigh of frustration and entered her room, slamming the door behind her. Just as she dumped her school bag on the armchair, the silver phone on her bedside table began to ring. Ayla grinned and crossed the room to answer it.

'Hello?' she asked.

'Got you!' Rufus replied on the phone, and started laughing. Ayla slammed down the receiver and left her room to find Rose.

She answered the door on the first knock, and Ayla invited herself in.

'I have another mission.' she announced, plopping down on Rose's bed.

'Serious?!' Rose exclaimed, sitting down on the wheelie desk chair.

'Yep. I don't know what it is, though, it's to do with running, but Rufus and Robbie won't say. My briefing is tomorrow, hopefully.' Ayla explained.

'It's with Rufus?' Rose asked, and Ayla was immediately suspicious.

'Yeah…' she replied, watching her carefully. Rose shrugged.

'So what do you think it is?'

'No clue! It's with Feenie, as well.' Ayla said.

'Feenie Mears?'

'Yeah, is she nice?' she asked.

'She's really cool, yeah. And Robbie and Rufus too…that should be fun!' Rose smiled.

'Yeah, plus Rufus said it was the coolest mission ever.'

'Let's hope so. I hope I get a mission soon.' Rose said, biting her lip.

'I bet you will.' Ayla realised that Rose hadn't had a mission yet, and felt guilty. 'I can ask, if you want?'

'No, no, I want to get picked. I'm sure I'll get one soon.' she said with a shake of her head. 'Anyway, at least you're here for the New Year's Eve Party!'

_* *CLASSIFIED* *_

_MISSION BRIEFING FOR AYLA ADRIAN_

_DO NOT REMOVE FROM ROOM 809_

_DO NOT COPY OR MAKE NOTES_

_(1) Anabolic Steroids_

_Anabolic steroids, technically known as anabolic-androgenic steroids (AAS), are drugs that have similar effects to testosterone in the body. They increase protein within cells, especially in muscles. _

_Anabolic steroids were first made in the 1930s, and are now used therapeutically in medicine to stimulate bone growth and appetite, induce male puberty, and treat chronic wasting conditions, such as cancer and AIDS. The American College of Sports Medicine acknowledges that AAS, in the presence of adequate diet, can contribute to increases in body weight, often as lean mass increases, and that the gains in muscular strength achieved through high-intensity exercise and proper diet can be additionally increased by the use of AAS in some individuals._

_Health risks can be produced by long-term use or excessive doses of anabolic steroids. These effects include harmful changes in cholesterol levels, acne, high blood pressure, liver damage, and dangerous changes in the structure of the left ventricle of the heart._

_(2) Anabolic Steroids in Sport_

_Ergogenic uses for anabolic steroids in sports, racing, and bodybuilding are controversial because of their adverse effects and the potential to gain unfair advantage and considered cheating. Their use is referred to as doping and banned by all major sporting bodies. For many years, AAS have been by far the most detected doping substances in IOC-accredited laboratories._

_(3) Smuggling Drugs_

_In countries where AAS are controlled substances, there is often a black market in which smuggled, clandestinely manufactured, or even counterfeit drugs are sold to users. This market is mainly used by professional sportspeople and/or their coaches._

_(4) Alexis Jen Jr._

_Alexis Jen Jr. is presumably the head of Blue Corp, the largest provider of drugs in sport on the black market. He is a Japanese multi-millionaire and although we have no rock-hard evidence that he is involved with the drugs black market, his movements have been tracked by CHERUB in case of any suspicious activity._

_(5) No Limits_

_This is the name of the recent television programme set up by multi-millionaire Alexis Jen Jr. The programme is reality television and consists of 8 competitors at the age of 15 years old. The programme will last 8 weeks and trains the teenagers to be better long-distance runners, with one competitor being sent home each week. _

_(6) The Role of CHERUB_

_CHERUB have a contact who has ensured that 4 agents can audition at the trials on the 8__th__ January 2013 in the USA. The aim is to get all 4 into the television programme, with a training week before leaving for the trial. Once all 4 agents are in the programme, some of the mission will have to be improvised in order to have safe communications with all agents. This will be difficult because of the almost constant filming. _

_(7) The Mission_

_The aim is to get the agents to the final 4 weeks of the programme. This is when the training is most intense, and a contact has revealed that this is when the runners will be given a new substance to 'increase performance legally'. CHERUB agents will need to steal a sample of the substance so that the Government are able to ensure that the new substance is not an illegal steroid that can be just consumed instead of injected into the body. CHERUB have reason to believe that Alexis Jen Jr. is using the programme as a way to both earn money and carry out the final testing phase of the drug. Agents should avoid actually having to consume the drug; hopefully the drug can be stolen and checked before this happens. _

_THE CHERUB ETHICS COMMITTEE UNANIMOUSLY ACCEPTED THIS MISSION BRIEFING. ALL MISSION CANDIDATES SHOULD CAREFULLY CONSIDER THE FOLLOWING FACTORS:_

_(1) This mission has been classified MEDIUM RISK. Although the agents need to be precise and extremely careful because they are almost constantly being filmed, the level of danger towards them from should be very low as long as they follow orders and use their common sense._

_(2) There is a risk of consuming steroids, although this should not be a problem as long as the mission goes to plan. The full plan will be mostly communicated during the mission._

_(3) CHERUB agents will be showing their faces on international television, which means that they will have to dye their hair etc. before attending the trials. However, there is still a risk that the agents will be easily recognisable, and this could result in a withdrawal from future missions._

**A/N: Please review :) Once again, sorry for the wait!**


	22. Countdown

**A/N: Sorry there's been such a long break! Hope you enjoy :) Thanks to all reviewers! LOVE YOU. If you want to read my blog, search 'writing under these lights in my room' **

**Thanks for reading!**

22. COUNTDOWN

Ayla sat nervously on the mission room sofa, fiddling with her fingers. Feenie Mears was opposite her but neither of them was speaking. They were waiting for Zara or another mission controller to come in and finally check if they were going to do the mission or not. Ayla studied Feenie carefully. Rose had said that she was nice but they still hadn't spoken except for a brief greeting. Feenie had long, straight blonde hair and blue eyes. She was really pretty and Ayla could see that she would be a good runner just from her athletic build. Suddenly the door opened.

'Evening, girls.' Zara said with a smile. Ayla shifted forward on the sofa and nodded. 'So first of all, I just need your confirmations and signatures. You're both going to do this?'

'Yeah.' Feenie said, and Ayla nodded as well.

'Great.' Zara said, and passed them each a form to sign. 'So, we are going to have a training week before we actually travel over to the USA for your trials. We start on the 1st of January, a nice start to the New Year. The week of training will be here so you can still see your friends and have some lessons, but it will be mostly training.'

Ayla grimaced inwardly. This meant that she would technically be on a mission for approximately 9 weeks, depending upon how far in the television programme she got. But this was a great mission, and Rufus was right – it would be pretty cool, being on television. She signed her form and passed it back to Zara, just as Feenie had done the moment before.

'All I'm going to say is get some rest. I know there are parties and such on New Year's Eve, but try and bear in mind that you have to be up early the next day. Enjoy your last few days of freedom, girls.' Zara finished, and waved them goodbye.

Ayla stood up, knees clicking, and thanked Zara before walking past her out into the corridor. She exchanged an awkward smile with Feenie before they went in opposite directions. Ayla headed to the track to run some of this extra stress off. She was already wearing shorts and a hoodie despite the cold, so she jogged down to the arena and entered through the back door. Running club wasn't on during the Christmas holidays, so she didn't think there would be anyone else there.

She jogged through the tunnel out into the stadium, breathing in the atmosphere of empty seats. It would be the opposite at the trials. Almost immediately she noticed that she wasn't alone. She spun around to see Aaron running up behind her, panting and sweaty-faced. He stopped and leant on his knees, breathing hard.

'Hey.' he managed eventually. She couldn't help grinning.

'Hey, Aaron.' she smiled.

'So…what you…doing here?' he panted.

'About to run off some stress. Got another mission.'

'That's…the life for some!...lucky you.' he nodded. 'What is it?'

'Can't tell you, I'm banned.' she laughed. 'You should know that by now.'

'Ah, well… You'll do great… I'm tired, I'm gonna go…' he said, and jogged away. Ayla pulled off her hoodie and tossed it onto the ground, feeling conflicted. Why didn't she like it when Aaron walked away? They were just friends, she reminded herself. Nothing more. This shouldn't be awkward.

This extra problem spurred her to start running a little quicker than usual. After ten laps she was feeling much more tired than usual, presumably because she had started faster. But the navy sky and cool air made her want to continue. Eventually it was Rose and Lyddie coming down to the track that stopped her.

'Hey, Ayla!' Rose called. Ayla slowed with effort and jogged on the spot.

'What…you guys doing here?' she asked, out of breath.

'It's kind of late…you should come back in now.' Lyddie announced. 'Plus it's freezing out here!'

'I can see my breath!' Rose exclaimed. 'How are you surviving?!'

'Okay…okay…' Ayla muttered, walking to her hoodie and shaking out her legs.

At 10 o'clock that night, their gang regrouped in Lyddie's room. Theo managed to get some good songs playing on her iPod speakers, which was usually difficult because she didn't have great taste in music.

'Me and Ay have a mission!' was the first thing Rufus said.

'When?' Theo asked.

'We have training from the 1st and we leave on the 7th of January.' Ayla explained.

Rose and Lyddie pulled faces, while the other two didn't look too pleased either.

'Let's just enjoy them while they're here!' Ed exclaimed, and everyone laughed. The rest of the evening passed with a film, and Ayla fell asleep on Lyddie's sofa.

The next morning her legs were burning so badly that she didn't think she'd ever be able to stand up again.

'Oh, FUCK.' she moaned, rolling off the sofa and onto the floor. That woke up the other two girls immediately.

'Told you you shouldn't have done that much running.' Rose said, sitting up, yawning and rubbing her eyes.

Lyddie just flopped back down onto her bed with a groan. 'I'm so tired.'

'Ugh…my legs are burning.' Ayla muttered.

* * *

'WEAR THE SAME DRESS?!' Rose screamed, practically tearing her hair out.

'What? It's a cool dress.' Ayla shrugged.

'You can't just wear the same dress twice in a month! AH. Why do you always need clothes?' Rose sighed faux-miserably.

'I don't need more clothes! I have a dress!' Ayla told her, holding up the dress on its hanger.

'Okay, whatever, wear the same dress, but you are a freak.' Rose held up her hands in surrender.

Lyddie smirked, checking her dress in the floor-length mirror.

'Black or blue, guys?' she asked.

'I don't give a shit.' Ayla laughed, and Rose punched her lightly in the arm.

'I think blue.' Rose told her. 'God, I can't believe you didn't think about your dress earlier, Ay. Tomorrow is New Year's Eve. You knew this was happening for like 3 months.'

'Give it up, Rose!' Lyddie rolled her eyes, and Ayla grinned.

'You care too much about this, Rose…it's weird.'

'I just wanna look good!' she said defensively.

'But for who?' Lyddie raised an eyebrow.

'Oh, yeah! I can't believe I didn't realise!' Ayla agreed.

'No one! Go away!'

'It's Rufus!'

'No!'

'RUFUS!'

**A/N: Thanks for reading! Please review, it's so nice! :) Read my blog as well: 'writing under these lights in my room'**


	23. Hell

**A/N: And the full version is here! Hope you like, please review :) View my blog - google 'writing under these lights in my room' Thanks for reading!**

23. HELL

Ayla should have realised earlier that waking up so early on New Year's Day would be impossible. All the same, she blundered out of bed to switch off her alarm at 5am and stood next to her bed rubbing her eyes until she woke up properly. Outside it was dark and cloudy; not the most cheerful start to 2013. Ayla crossed the room to her mirror and attempted unsuccessfully to tie her hair back neatly. She had dark mascara streaks beneath her eyes, and just generally looked exhausted. She _felt_ exhausted. There was a knock at the door.

'Yeah?' she called, her voice breaking slightly at first.

'Hurry up.' She heard Rufus hiss through the door.

'One second.' she replied, and clumsily put on her running gear after wiping her face with a cool, wet flannel. Rufus eventually opened the door as she filled up her water bottle. 'I'm ready.' she told him.

'Cool.'

Rufus looked just as run down as Ayla, with curlier hair than usual and navy rings beneath his bleary eyes. She suddenly remembered why they were so tired – the party last night. But try as she might, the memories of the night itself were foggy and mostly blank. As she followed Rufus down the corridor and stairs, she decided to ask him.

'So, what happened last night?' she asked casually. He turned around to look incredulously at her, his eyebrows disappearing into his hair.

'You mean to say you don't remember? Or what happened to me?' he countered. Ayla reddened and rubbed her hair sheepishly.

'I mean I can't remember.' she replied. Rufus let his breath out in an amused _whoosh_.

'Wow, you're screwed.' he said.

'What happened?!' she demanded, catching up to him as they reached the ground floor and exited through the fire exit.

'Many things, Adrian. Some better than others.' he added mysteriously. Unfortunately at that moment they had to join the running group. Feenie and Robbie were already waiting with Meryl Spencer in the middle of the field. The air misted around the grey grounds, mirroring Ayla's nervousness and anticipation for the week to come.

'Brilliant.' Ayla said in reply to Rufus just before they reached the others.

* * *

'Rose, open up!' Ayla moaned, slamming her fist half-heartedly on Rose's bedroom door.

There was a pause as Ayla listened to the shuffling noises on the other side of the door, and then Rose slowly cracked the door open.

'Why are you awake so early?' she whispered, squinting through tired eyes.

'It's not early, it's half three! I had training and lessons and I wanted to see if you were awake.' Ayla explained, still exhausted from her early start.

'Oh…why?' Rose asked after a long yawn.

'I can't remember what happened last night…' Ayla admitted.

'Ah.' Rose nodded. Ayla's eyes narrowed.

'So what happened?' she asked.

'Um…I don't know if you want to know?'

'Just tell me.' Ayla said stoically, folding her arms over her chest.

'Well…you were a bit off your face, I think…' Rose trailed off. 'And…you may have gone a bit crazy…'

'Just say it!'

'You and…' Rose grimaced. 'Theo.'

* * *

'Good evening, Mr Bond.' Ayla said as she sat down next to him at their table for dinner. Theo looked at her with apprehension. 'It's okay, Rose told me.' she said quickly.

'Right.' Theo said, and took a quick glance across the table. 'So I think…'

'We should just pretend it never happened, right?' Ayla answered.

'Um. Yeah.' Theo nodded violently.

Ayla exchanged a relieved look with Rose. 'Thanks, dude.' she said. He smiled at her.

'Let's get some food.' Rose announced, and they left the boys at the table.

As they finished eating, Ayla was approached by Robbie.

'You know we have training now?' he asked. He was wearing his running clothes.

'Oh, shit!' Ayla clapped one hand to her head. 'You mean, like, now?'

'Yeah. I was just going and I'm late.' he told her. 'Good luck!'

Robbie jogged off. Ayla looked around and sure enough Rufus had disappeared, apparently half an hour ago. She wondered why he hadn't thought to bring her.

'Okay, I gotta go.' she told the table at large, then quickly put her tray away and speed walked back across the cafeteria. Aaron gave her a brief smile on the way, so she nodded at him.

Once she was changed and out on the field Ayla jogged with more speed than she would on a normal warm-up, over to Meryl.

'And where have you been?' Meryl asked. 'Robbie said you forgot.'

'Um, yeah I did…I'm really sorry, Meryl.' Ayla pleaded, taking a glance at the others who were doing push-ups, already on the circuit section of the session.

'Well it's your loss. If you don't want to get as far…but anyway, just do 12 laps around our field, build. Then you can join the others. You'll be worse.' Meryl shrugged at her. Ayla hung her head and ran over to the closest corner before beginning her warm-up. Halfway through, she realised why there was a lump in her throat and a pain in her chest. She wanted to be better. She didn't want to be worse than the others. She needed Meryl to understand how much she wanted this, running, to be what she was known for.

Barely realising herself, Ayla moved her speed up to a near sprint, loving the feeling of power coursing through the muscles in her legs. Every stride lengthened, and she quickened her breathing as the flat green land around her blurred.

With six days to go, Ayla felt she was working her hardest.

With five days to go, Ayla felt she did not have enough time.

With four days to go, Ayla's whole body was burning in pain.

With three days to go, Ayla understood that pain meant improvement.

With two days to go, Ayla realised that she couldn't wait to win her trial.

With one day to go, Ayla knew that running was what she wanted to do.

**A/N: Thank you for reading, please review! Check out my new story on my profile if you like Harry Potter :)**


	24. Trial

**A/N: 50 REVIEWS! Thank you so much everyone you have made my day! :D I hope you like this chapter, in return :) Updates should come quicker because I'm on Easter holidays :) Thank you! Particularly to Monte xx (a guest) who has reviewed most chapters, you're so kind!**

24. TRIAL

'You sure you're ready for this, Ayla? Meryl smiled. Ayla didn't even turn to look at her. She just nodded, eyes set on the ponytail of the girl in front of her. There was music pounding in her ears, riling her up to the race.

_You shoot me down, but I won't fall. I am titanium._

There was a tap on her shoulder. She pulled one headphone bud out of her ear.

'Good luck.' Feenie nodded at her. That was the first thing she had said to her. Ayla couldn't help a smile.

'You too. Hope you kill yours.' Ayla replied, before turning back. Luckily Feenie was a sprinter, whereas Ayla had stamina, so they wouldn't do the same race. She replaced the earphone, flexing her hands quickly.

_I'm coming out of my cage and I've been doing just fine gotta gotta be down because I want it all_

The line of girls began to move and Ayla's heart began to beat faster. Blood thumped through her veins in time with the song rhythm. They snaked down the brightly lit corridor, through the building until the first heat had gone onto the track. Ayla was the last in the second heat. She ran through the race in her mind.

Five kilometres. Twelve and a half laps of the four hundred metre track. One chance to prove herself to the world.

If she looked around the heads in front of her, she could see out through the door to the outdoor track. It was perfect. There were thousands of people watching and the only regret she had was that this wasn't technically her running. For this, she was running under a different name, her hair had been dyed brown, she had had a spray tan, and she had dark contacts in her eyes. Anyone watching would see Olivia Andrews, not Ayla Adrian.

Then Ayla's heat began to shuffle forward. Ayla held her breath until she reached the doorway, separating the calm waiting area from the manic energy of the stadium. And as expected, she heard the roar of the crowd as she stepped out into the dull sunlight, the noise engulfing her and carrying her forward towards her lane.

The stadium went silent as the athletes stripped off their tracksuits. Ayla kept her earphones in for as long as possible. Just before they called the runners to take their marks, she listened to the final lyrics she could.

_Work it, make it, do it, makes us Harder, better, faster, stronger. Work it harder, make it better Do it faster, makes us stronger._

'Get set.' called an unseen person, with the nasal voice that comes through a microphone. Ayla shifted her weight forward, leaning as though about to lunge, with one foot in front of the other. Everything was silent. Ayla's eyes could pick out every hair standing up on her arm, every mark on the track ahead of her. Then, after a heartbeat of waiting –

With a crack, the starting gun fired.

Ayla took her first stride out onto the track and didn't look back.

She almost effortlessly moved to second in the pack, along the inside bend. She stayed calmly in the girl in front's slipstream for the first half of the race, until people began to move forward. It was too early for her to break, so she simply moved up a gear. Her legs sped faster, but she didn't falter and she didn't open throttle. There was still rhythm.

And then came the final two laps. It was time.

Someone behind her began to move forward, and Ayla responded with her beginning burst of speed. She started to move her arms more, and soon she had overtaken the girl at the front. Everything was a blur. Ayla couldn't see anything except for the empty track ahead of her. She couldn't hear anything except for the increased frequency of her breaths.

Another person tried to overtake her, and Ayla almost smiled. This was her time. She moved into a sprint now, ready for the final lap.

_The stars is in the building. They hands is to the ceiling. I know I'm bout to kill it. How you know, I got that feeling. You are now watching the throne…Don't let me into my zone_

One final lap. One final blur of this joyous feeling of exhaustion. But it wasn't exhaustion, she was fired up and psyched. Ayla wanted to carry on forever, carry on feeling this feeling. But she had to stop after this lap, so she put everything she had into the lap. Rounding the final bend, her hair was whipping into her face and her legs were pricking with pins and needles. The taste of blood rose in her throat and she pushed it further. It felt as though she were flying. Her legs lengthened in stride but she moved so quickly that it made no difference. And then finally, excruciatingly, she crossed the line. And then she looked back.

Meryl twisted off the cork of the bottle with a popping noise. Ayla, Feenie, Rufus and Robbie cheered loudly. Meryl laughed and poured them each a glass of the golden liquid.

'This is non-alcoholic, by the way. We don't want any of our amazing runners to get worse.' she told them.

'Thanks, Meryl.' Ayla smiled, and took a sip.

'I'm so relieved right now.' Feenie admitted, smiling into her glass.

'So am I. I still can't believe we've all made it.' said Robbie.

'We're gonna be on TV!' Rufus exclaimed after swallowing a big sip.

'It will be weird.' Ayla said, pulling a face. But inwardly, she was rejoicing. That had been the best race she had ever run, even though she hadn't won by as much as other times. It was the feeling that made it perfect. And to think that she would be known for this, that she would be watched by people on television, was enough in itself even if she wasn't going to be using her real name.

In her mind, the mission had become secondary, and the main priority was to run as well as she possibly could.

**A/N: Please review! It helps me so much! Thanks for reading :)**


	25. Abduction

**A/N: Sorry for the delay my internet was down! Please review :)**

25. ABDUCTION

The next morning, the four CHERUBs went for a long run as a cool-down after the trial. They were staying in a hotel in the centre of San Francisco, so they had to run outside the city limits to get some mileage. Ayla loved running in new places, because she was unfamiliar with the sights and sounds, and it made running much more interesting. San Francisco was particularly scenic and very different to the English countryside. Although it was still cold and wintry, there was no more snow falling so each morning was crisp and biting, which woke Ayla up well. During the day Meryl would home school them, but in short bursts so that they would get long breaks. It was just to keep the boredom away and the knowledge floating around in their heads. Meryl had told the teenagers that it would be a week before 'No Limits' announced who was going to be in the programme, but she assumed that they would be as they had all won their heats.

'Let's go to the Market Street!' Robbie announced one afternoon when they were all particularly fed up of just sitting in the lobby of the hotel. The CHERUBs automatically looked towards Meryl for permission, and she nodded.

'Just make sure you're back by 5pm for your run. And wrap up warm!' she called as they all quickly got up and went back to the lift to get changed. Ayla was sharing her room with Feenie, and they were becoming friends much faster than she had expected. On the outside Feenie was slightly unfriendly, but once Ayla spent more time with her she seemed to soften a lot.

'Are you actually gonna buy anything?' Ayla asked with a grin as they went back down in the lift to meet the boys outside. They had exchanged their English pocket money for American dollars.

'Yeah, hopefully. Everything's cheaper here. Let's just go to the shops that are unaffordable in England!' Feenie winked.

'Good idea.' Ayla said as they got out of the lift.

'Got your money?' Rufus asked, and the girls nodded. They set off down the busy street.

'How far away is it?' Feenie asked. 'I don't want to kill my legs before tonight.'

'Sucks to be a sprinter!' Ayla grinned, before turning to Robbie. 'How far?'

He laughed. 'I dunno. It's nice to be out and not running, though.'

'Yeah , it is…' Rufus nodded. 'I need a hoodie. It's kind of cold running in the mornings in a T-shirt.'

'I don't need anything…but I want a ton of things!' Robbie grinned. 'Can we buy some food, too?'

'Nah, Meryl will kill us if we eat loads of junk food. Let's stick to clothes and souvenirs.' Feenie advised.

'Oh, I remember, it's left here.' Rufus said with a nod to the street running across the one they were on. All of the streets in San Francisco were set out in a grid pattern with blocks. Ayla was relieved to step out of the cold and into one of the high street clothes stores. She stretched her bright red fingers and Feenie laughed.

'You should get some mittens!' she exclaimed, wiggling her own gloved hands.

'Not much point now, though…spring isn't that far away.' she shrugged.

They explored the shop, the boys managing to keep themselves interested for at least half an hour, before they moved on to the next. Along their way through the shops down the street, Ayla bought a blue jumper and new running socks from a special professional running shop. According to Meryl, if they made it to the show they would get real running gear. The group split up at around the third shop – Robbie and Feenie wanted to get snacks (healthy only!), so Rufus and Ayla kept shopping in the clothes stores. Just as Rufus was paying for a beanie hat, Ayla's personal mobile phone started ringing. She nudged Rufus, who understood as she immediately left to find the quietest corner of the shop and answer the call.

'Hello?' she asked.

'Ayla. Where are you?' Meryl's voice came through the phone, sounding stressed out.

'Rufus and I are in Topshop on the Market Street. Robbie and Feenie went to get some food, not sure where. What's happened?' Ayla asked as quietly as she could, speaking quickly.

'I want you to write down what I tell you now. Do you have paper?'

'Yes, but what's-' Ayla was cut off by Meryl.

'Write down exactly what I say, then follow the instructions. I really don't have long. I'm sorry.' she said firmly over Ayla's whispered protests.

* * *

Ayla made her way to the front door of the shop, where Rufus was waiting for her with a curious expression on his face. Trying not to look as though she recognised him in any way, Ayla strode past him, slipping a quarter of the piece of paper she had written on into his hand. Luckily he understood and didn't try to stop her or look surprised. Ayla couldn't look back, but she hoped that he had tried to look as inconspicuous as possible. In the meantime, she pulled her mobile phone out as she walked down the packed Market Street.

'Robbie, is that you?' she asked, keeping her voice down despite the loud surroundings.

'Yep, what's up?' his relaxed voice came through the phone.

'I need you both to meet me separately at the fountain in the square asap. Something's happened. Whatever you do, act as though you don't know me.' she whispered, hoping he would take this seriously.

'Got it. See you in a min.' he said quickly, a note of anxiety audible in his voice.

Ayla hung up and shoved her phone deep into her coat pocket, subtly checking her surroundings for anyone suspicious. At least Rufus was dealt with. Ayla sat on a bench in the corner of the square. True to his word, Robbie strolled into the square from another street, acting nonchalant. Ayla immediately clocked him, stood up and pretended to check her watch. Then she crossed the square towards him, curling her fingers around another quarter of the paper. He was walking towards an overflowing rubbish bin, and Ayla got there before him, feeling his eyes on her. She tossed the paper into it, before walking away in the opposite direction without daring to look back. She knew he would pick the paper out of the top of the bin. All that was left was Feenie. Where was she?

As if on cue, Ayla spotted Feenie sitting casually on a bench quite close to her. She had her ankles crossed, but Ayla could tell she was analysing everyone. She felt Feenie's eyes fall on her and skim away quickly. But before she could reach her and hand her the paper, a normal-looking man suddenly appeared behind the bench and swiftly injected something into the back of her neck. Feenie slumped; eyes still open, but made no noise as the man lifted her upright by the arm and led her into a car parked on the street behind. Ayla stared in horror, disbelieving, trying to not look to suspicious whilst reeling in shock. She finally came to her senses when the car began to move. Checking behind her, Ayla moved forward to memorise the number plate and car make as it moved away down the street, Feenie invisible behind the tinted windows.

Ayla screwed her eyes shut, and then realised that if they had known who Feenie was, they might know her. She slipped away, down a different, narrower street and disappeared into the city as the sun went down.

**A/N: Uh OH! If you want to read more, please review! xx**


	26. Escape

**A/N: Wow, thank you so much for the reviews! I'm so happy! I got back from a camp late on Sat night and promised this chap for yesterday but didn't finish! So I hope you enjoy, sorry for the wait.**

26. ESCAPE

_Come up with a new identity. You need to make your way to Oakland - get out of San Francisco as quickly as you can. Change your appearance if you can, clothes definitely. Everyone is going to a different location. We will hopefully be able to contact you in time but try to lie low. _

_This mission is not over. _

Ayla reread the note for the thousandth time as she crouched behind a set of bins in an alleyway. She had barely moved since Feenie had been taken. The shock of seeing her friend drugged was almost too much, and the memory was imprinted in her mind. All Ayla could think was that if she ever found these people, there would be hell to pay.

Oakland was not too far as long as she could get a bus. Ayla fortunately still had dollars in her bag from their shopping trip earlier. That seemed so long ago now, as she clutched the wrinkled note in her shaking hands.

Feenie, Robbie, Rufus.

Where had Feenie been taken to?

Where had Robbie been sent to?

Where was Rufus headed?

Oakland. It was just across the channel; San Francisco Bay. Go over one bridge and maybe she would be safe. And then she could help the others, eventually.

Ayla could barely think straight. She shoved the paper into her pocket and stumbled back towards the Market Street. Why was she so affected by this if she had survived Basic Training so well? Everything had just got a lot more real. It was strange to her that out on the pavement everyone else was completely normal. She wished that she could ask for help, but she couldn't trust anyone now. Ayla pulled her hood up over her head, trying not to draw any attention. Much further up the street she crossed into a clothes shop, where she changed her whole outfit to inconspicuous clothing. She bought the cheapest things possible to save her money, and kept her old clothes in her bag. Then she realised she didn't know where any bus stops were.

'Uh, excuse me? Are there any bus stops near here?' Ayla asked the most harmless looking person she could see around her, trying to put on an American accent to seem normal.

'Sure, kid.' the woman with the pram replied. 'Just up there on your right. That side to go over the bay, other side for the city.'

'Thanks so much.' she smiled, before walking away quickly to the right stop. Unfortunately waiting for a bus would mean that she was exposed for some time. Instead she stepped into the clothes store behind the stop, and pretended to browse next to the window, while keeping one eye on the street outside. When the bus finally pulled up, she casually walked back out and stepped on, tugging her purse out of her bag and paying the dollars to the driver. She had been trained to pay attention to her surroundings, and so she quickly surveyed the bus for anyone remotely suspicious. Then she sat in the seat closest to the exit, turning her head so that no one outside the bus would be able to see her face through the window.

The bus sped through San Francisco, passing countless tall buildings, stopping, and eventually beginning its journey across the highway bridge over the bay. To Ayla's relief, there was only one stop on this bridge, but that was where she had to pay most attention, in case they were trying to stop her getting out of the city. The bus juddered to a stop at Treasure Island, the island in the centre of the bay, and the doors wheezed open to let in cool sunlight. Ayla squinted out of the corner of her eye towards the entrance, where people were getting on. There were two men in the centre of the crowd, late 20s and well-built. They looked similar to the man who abducted Feenie. Ayla wasn't sure if she should slip off now and hope that they didn't see her, or wait until she was in the safety of a big city like Oakland. The fact that they had actually got on the bus probably meant that they had seen her, if they were indeed her enemies.

Ayla made a snap decision to stay on the bus. If Oakland was where Meryl had wanted her to go, then maybe there would be back up anyway. She tried to do a normal teenage thing and pulled out some lip gloss. A runaway agent wouldn't be worrying about her lips. Fortunately the men didn't even come all the way down the bus towards her, instead choosing to stand at the front. The bus doors closed again and they began to move more quickly again across the final stretch of the bridge. Ayla was pleased to see that neither man had as much as glanced in her direction.

She knew absolutely nothing about Oakland, and at first it looked as though there wasn't much there as they drove off the bridge and onto the road. They were moving at speed down a motorway, the bus just a green and white blur. The surroundings were grey and sparse. There were no stops for several minutes, until they moved into a more urban area. Ayla spotted a large green area ahead, and decided that would be a good place to hide. She got off at a stop on the Grand Avenue, next to some kind of gardens on a lakeside. As she left the bus, she glanced over her shoulder to see the men moving to get off as well. She didn't want to draw attention, but if these men were following her then it was definitely time to run. It was impossible to ask anyone else for help just in case. So Ayla did exactly what she had been trained for – not being a secret agent, but being an athlete. She pulled off her pumps and held them as she sprinted barefoot away from the bus, onto the grass and into the trees. The men were running behind her. She could even hear their ragged breaths behind her. But she wasn't breathing fast. She was a runner and there was no way that she would lose this race. This race was for her life.

**A/N: Please review! It's so encouraging for me :)**


	27. Dark

**A/N: I reply personally to all my user reviews, but special thanks to guests Monte and Bethan and all the other guests for inspiring me to keep going! Thanks for reviewing guys! Enjoy :)**

27. DARK

_Work it, make it, do it, makes us_

_Harder, better, faster, stronger_

Ayla felt the tears ooze out of the side of her eyes and over her eyelash line. The situation was hopeless. She was running as fast as she could. They were behind her. Nothing was ahead of her but trees. She kept running as fast as she could. She was barefoot. They had trainers. They were huge. She was a girl. She was a teenager. They were adult men. Her hair was in her eyes. Her lungs were ripping with pain. She pushed faster than the beat of the song hopelessly repeating in her head on a loop. Her legs felt like a blur. They didn't feel like anything at all. What was ahead of her? Breathe in – breathe out. Something blue. Past the trees. Over the stones. Feet hurting. Cold cold cold and splash splash splash. Can't feel. Keep running. No. Water. Swim. Swim away. Out out out and under and away and MOVE

Can't touch the bottom. Ayla kicked out with her legs. Pulled with her arms. Move as though you're a speedboat. See the splash behind you. Wait-behind you. Where are they? Behind, far behind.

Ayla realised the men were much further away now. She was far out, near the centre of this lake, and they were stuck on the shore. It was all water surrounding her. There were no sailboats. Just clear blue water. Ayla hissed out a sigh of success and floated on her back briefly to relax. When she came back to treading water, the men were gone from the shore. She had no idea where they were, but most likely they would think she was going to the other side. They obviously didn't have a car – they took the bus to follow her – so the best thing she could do was go back to shore the way she had come. Swimming felt good because the exhaustion from her sprint into the water was running out of her muscles. Her legs stopped throbbing, although her arms were tiring now that she had lost the adrenaline. That didn't mean she wasn't one hundred percent on edge, though. She could see everything in great detail, despite the darkness.

Ayla knew she had to move quickly once she was on the bank. They might see her from the other side of the lake, or worst case scenario if they were waiting there anyway. Hopefully the night would disguise her. She crawled out of the shallows and onto the stones, realising she had lost her pumps on the way. She would have to go barefoot through the town. Luckily she still had money in her pocket. Looking around her, she cautiously jogged into the trees and out of sight. No one was waiting in the shadows. She stopped.

What was the best thing to do?

Taking a bus would be expected of her. Plus, that would attract attention if she went barefoot and soaking wet. But even if she slept in an alleyway they would be sure to find her eventually. What she needed to do was find a way for CHERUB to locate her but not the men. She needed to stay off the streets, but out in the open. Ayla's eyes moved over the houses she could see through the leaves…and fell upon the roof of one.

There were sure to be fire escapes, weren't there? And this way a CHERUB helicopter would be able to spot her, but the men wouldn't think of going up on the roof of a random house in Oakland. Ayla formed a plan in her head. Move as far away from the lake as possible, to play for time in case the men looked for her. Move in the alleyways and shadows. Then find a suitable random house to camp on the roof of.

* * *

Four hours later Ayla's feet were bruised and blistered, purpling and raw. It was the middle of the night and freezing. She stared up at her new destination. It was a theatre, old but still running, with a large surface area so that anyone looking down from above would immediately notice the building. She circled the building, looking for the best way up, and sure enough there was a narrow fire escape at the back. Ayla tiptoed up the metal steps, glancing at the silent city around her as she climbed higher. At the top was a small room-presumably the top of the stairs inside the theatre. She curled up on the cold surface, leaning her side against the locked door to the inside.

This place was perfect even if the men found her – if she was asleep their clanging feet on the stairs would wake her, and then she could easily deal with one at a time.

It was time for her to fight, not flight.

**A/N: Please review! :)**


	28. Airborn

**A/N: sorry for the few days wait. Hope it's worth it! :)**

28. AIRBORN

Ayla's eyes flickered open to the sound of helicopter blades thundering overhead. Her body was sore from lying curled on the concrete, and she managed to move up into a sitting position, back against a wall. The sun was rising ahead of her. It was a clear day and she could see straight out over the roofs of Oakland and the bay towards the skyline of San Francisco. Her skin prickled with goose bumps in the chilly air, partly because of the wind caused by the helicopter above. Ayla had no idea who could be in it, but she hoped it was CHERUB. Unsure whether or not to make herself seen, she decided the best thing to do was to catch their attention. Ideally, it would be Meryl in that cockpit. It would be worse if they didn't see her. She moved along the wall, scrambling upright whilst still only half awake. Her fingers closed around the cool metal of a ladder and she pulled herself up the few rungs to the very top of the theatre. She stood wobbling weakly on the small roof, and waved her arms up, squinting through the sunlight up into the sky.

There was a pause, when Ayla was not sure whether or not the helicopter would descend, and then it did. Around ten feet above her she realised it was not Meryl, but another mission controller she had seen before, thank God.

'Over here!' she shouted unnecessarily over the noise, voice hoarse from lack of sleep and sustenance. The man – John Jones? – managed to hover the helicopter in mid-air next to her.

'Ayla! Can you climb into the door behind me?' he yelled out to her.

Ayla nodded slightly, stumbling across the surface towards the helicopter. He pressed a button to open the door and she struggled to lift herself up into the space. Eventually she managed, arms shaking and bile rising in her throat. He shut the door for her and she lay on the floor next to the seats, breathing hard.

'Food and water on the seats.' he called back to her. She couldn't thank him, and instead turned to the small pile of cereal bars and water bottles with great relief. They flew over the city, away from San Francisco and over miles and miles of forests below. After several bars and bottles, Ayla felt a lot better.

'Where are we going?' she asked.

'Welcome to Nevada.' he replied, twisting back to look at her. 'How are you feeling?'

'Much better.' she said, now belted into a seat. 'Thank you. What's going to happen now?'

'We're going to regroup and then see if the mission can still happen.'

'Oh, yeah!' Ayla had completely forgotten about the mission. 'Wait – are the others ok?'

'They have all made it back, except Feenie.' John told her.

'What?' she asked, horrified.

'Don't worry, Ayla. We're working on it. We know where she's being held.'

'And wait – who took her? Who followed me? Are they not to do with the mission?' Ayla questioned, feeling ready to take them down.

'No, they are a different organisation, completely unrelated to your mission. We don't know how they found us, but they know enough about us, somehow.'

'You mean they know who we are?'

John nodded curtly, and they did not speak for the rest of the journey, both too wrapped up in their own thoughts. Ayla wondered who these people were and how they had followed her so far. She hoped Feenie was alright, and was surprised that John had not been more concerned. Come to think of it, it was surprising that he had not been more concerned about Ayla herself. He had not once asked how she got onto that roof or about her narrow escape. But he was pretty focused on flying the actual helicopter, so she guessed that once they had regrouped she would have to answer a lot of questions.

Nevada was huge and flat with a sky stretching out to the horizon all the way around. They seemed to be following a long, straight road below them, with white almost tundra-like ground on either side of it. Eventually, they began to descend as they reached a small mountain range. It was still early in the day, as John Jones had collected Ayla very early in the morning.

'Get ready for landing.' John called back to Ayla as they flew closer to the ground. It was a good thing that she was not afraid of heights. She caught sight of a small, flat grey building that was virtually invisible from more than twenty feet away. They hit the ground with a bump and Ayla juddered in her seat, teeth clicking together. John climbed out onto the ground and opened her door for her. 'Welcome to Tobin Intelligence Centre. It was our closest base to Oakland. The others should be here already.' he said.

She followed him to the metal door and waited for him to complete the security scans and codes before stepping inside. It was grey inside as well as out, with blank corridors. John walked briskly down a corridor to the left and then down some metal steps. Ayla realised that they must be underground. He pulled open a heavy door on their right and motioned for her to walk through first. It was very bright and coldly sterile, but the first thing she saw after blinking the blinding light away was Rufus.

'AYLA!' he shouted, and leapt up off his chair around the large circular table to hug her. She clung onto his shoulders and buried her face in his jacket. Robbie was not far behind.

'Where's Feenie?' he demanded, a crazed look glinting in his eye as he scanned John Jones behind her. Ayla looked back at John – had they not told Robbie and Rufus yet? 'Well?' Robbie asked, a note of panic audible in his tone. Ayla stepped away from Rufus and stared around at the other people sitting at the table. There was Meryl and two other adults she didn't recognise.

John Jones moved forward to take the fall.

'Robbie…' he began. 'Feenie is still on her way back.' he lied. Ayla shot a look across at him, confused. But then she saw Robbie's whole body melt with relief as he collapsed onto a chair, and realised that maybe the news of Feenie's kidnapping would mess up his brain. 'She might be a couple of days.' John continued, before taking his place at the table. Ayla sat down too, as Meryl cleared her throat.

'Alright. News about your mission is that all four of you have been accepted into the programme.'

Ayla exchanged a glance with Rufus and Robbie, thoughts of Feenie suddenly cleared from her head.

'When do we start?'

**A/N: Please review if you wanna read more! **


	29. Skype

**A/N: Hey, I'm sooo sorry about the wait, I'm in the middle of exams so this is like procrastination ;) Done 2 GCSEs! Hope you like this, it's a nice break from the action :)**

29. SKYPE

The outside air in Nevada was freezing. Every morning the three CHERUBs would run half the distance around the mountain they were nestled next to. Then they had high intensity training in the mid-afternoon, while the rest of the day was dedicated to preparations, school, or free time. Ayla found herself missing Feenie much more than she thought she would; the company of two teenage boys was getting exhausting, and she was constantly exhausted from training anyway. One evening after her shower and dinner, Ayla was reading a Maths textbook in her designated room to catch up. Someone knocked, and she got up and opened the door to Rufus, who was balancing a laptop in one hand.

'I hacked the WIFI.' he said with a grin, inviting himself in and sitting on her bed.

'Um…great?' she rolled her eyes and went back to the textbook.

'That means I can get Skype up on this baby.'

Ayla looked up sharply.

'I swear we're not allowed to contact our friends when we're on missions?'

Rufus shrugged, intent on the laptop screen. 'It's kinda forbidden, yeah, but isn't it worth it?'

'What if someone tracks us?' she asked.

'No one's gonna track some teenager's Skype call!' Rufus laughed. 'Anyways, I know Theo's username so I can call our friends. Unless you don't wanna see Rose and Lyddie?'

Ayla's heart lifted at the prospect of seeing her best friends. It felt like years since they'd talked. She laughed and put the textbook on the floor, before shifting over so that they could both be in the vision web-cam.

'Okay, then.' she smiled.

Rufus clicked _Theo Bond _and waited as the screen darkened as it called England. Suddenly an image popped up – it was Theo, munching crisps and grinning widely at them.

'Heeey!' he shouted at the camera.

Ayla laughed and Rufus waved.

'What time's it there?' Rufus asked.

''Bout half one. I'm eating lunch.' he replied. 'Never mind that, how did you call me?'

'Hacked the WIFI.' Rufus shrugged. 'Wasn't hard. Where's everyone else?'

'I can get everyone for you. Then you can update us…well, what you can tell us, anyway.' Theo replied, before getting up and moving out of the image.

Ayla sighed as she stared at the image of Theo's room.

'Miss it?' Rufus turned his head to ask her.

'Yeah, I do.' she found herself saying. It was the first place she could really call home.

The next second, the camera was filled with people. Ayla could barely tell who was there at first, as Theo fought for his seat at his desk. Eventually, they all settled around the web-cam. She saw Rose, grinning widely; Lyddie, waving at the camera; Ed resting his chin on the top of Theo's head; and finally Jason and Aaron smiling awkwardly in the right-hand corner of the screen.

Ayla was surprised to see those two boys there, but luckily Theo was quick to explain.

'This lot heard me yelling in the corridor,' he smirked, glancing across. Aaron's eyes were focused on the screen and Ayla felt embarrassed.

'So how are you?! We miss you guys.' Rose told them.

'We're alright. Last week was rough but we're ok. The mission hasn't even actually started yet.' Ayla shrugged.

'What?' asked Ed.

'That's so crazy. I wish you could tell us what happened!' Lyddie complained.

'Where are Robbie and Feenie?' Jason asked quizzically.

Ayla and Rufus exchanged a look. Were they allowed to say this much?

'Well, Robbie's in his room…' Ayla trailed off, looking at Rufus. He pulled a face.

'Feenie's not exactly here.'

'What do you mean?' asked Theo.

'We mean…she's not arrived at the base yet. She's…' Ayla couldn't finish her sentence again.

'What?' Aaron finally spoke. Ayla could barely tear her eyes away from his pixelated face, so far away from her.

Rufus answered.

'She got…kidnapped.'

There was a collective gasp around the group on the other side.

'Kidnapped? By who?' someone asked, and Ayla realised that they probably shouldn't have said anything.

'We don't know but it's gonna be fine. They're rescuing her now.' Rufus replied.

'And you can't say anything. Even Robbie doesn't know.' Ayla added.

Everyone stared at her gravely.

'When will you be back?' Ed finally asked, breaking the silence.

'We don't know. In ages.' Rufus said, glancing at Ayla, who nodded.

She couldn't stop her eyes from shifting back to Aaron's. She missed him. That was it.

Meanwhile, the others were still talking.

'Any clues about what you're doing?' Lyddie asked.

'Yes, actually,' Rufus grinned, 'make sure you're watching ITV1 at 8pm every Thursday.'

'Why?!' Rose asked excitedly.

'Because you might just see us on live television!'

Ayla remembered to grin and cheer at this, even though inside she was still reeling in Aaron's gaze. If only he kept liking her. But it might be maximum 10 weeks that she was gone, and that was a long time…lots of things could happen…

'Oh, shit.' Theo was saying.

'What's up?' Rufus asked.

'We're meant to be running laps, guys.' he said, and everyone except Jason and Aaron groaned.

'What for?' Ayla asked.

'Tell you another time. If you can call us again. But we have to go.' Theo said.

'Miss you both!' Rose smiled at them.

'Stay safe.' Lyddie blew a kiss.

'Have fun!' Ed nodded, and Theo saluted them before telling Jason and Aaron that they could stay on as long as they didn't touch his stuff. Once the others had left there was an awkward silence.

'So why do they have punishment laps?' Ayla asked.

'They were caught drinking on campus.' Jason replied.

'Sounds like we've been missing out.' commented Rufus.

'Not really, not much has happened.' said Aaron, watching Ayla.

'We better go, right Rufus?' she asked him, feeling completely torn. He looked at her.

'Oh, um, yeah. Training tomorrow. We'll see you guys.' he said quickly.

'Skype us anytime.' Aaron replied.

'What's your username?' Rufus asked, as Ayla looked on embarrassedly.

'It's ,' he said quickly. 'Good luck.'

'Thanks.' said Ayla, unable to resist a smile.

'We'll see you, then.' Jason nodded, and Rufus shut the laptop lid.

**A/N: Please review if you want more, I need incentive to keep writing in this busy time!**


	30. Hollywood

**A/N: Thanks for waiting for this! It's chapter 30 and I've hit 5,000 views so I want to make this Chapter good, and now the next half is here too! Enjoy :)**

30. HOLLYWOOD

After their Skype call, Rufus immediately glanced at Ayla.

'What's going on with you and Aaron?' he asked as he stretched out on the end of her bed. She screwed up her face and sighed.

'I honestly have no idea. I'm seriously confused about him.' she admitted.

'I reckon he likes you, right?'

'I don't know, everything he does just makes no sense to me. It's complicated. We'll see, I guess, when we get back to campus. But that's in ages…by then he might…' Ayla folded her arms and groaned. 'I don't know.'

'Sounds like you like him,' Rufus grinned. 'Also, I have a question for you.'

'Shoot.' Ayla nodded.

'I think I might like Rose?'

Ayla started laughing. 'Oh my god, yes! Is that actually a question?'

'I don't know!' Rufus shrugged defensively.

'Ask her out when we get back.'

'That's your great advice?!' he asked incredulously. 'Great. I'm screwed.'

Suddenly the door opened with a crash.

'Did you two know?' shouted Robbie. Ayla stopped laughing and sat up, looking at Rufus.

'Know what?' he asked cautiously.

'That Feenie was fucking kidnapped?' Robbie's face was tense, drawn and very angry. Ayla noticed Feenie herself peeking out from the door behind him.

'Feenie!' Ayla exclaimed, and moved around Robbie to reach her and hug her. They watched in silence as he kept yelling at Rufus.

'Why didn't you tell me? We could've gone and fucking rescued her, then maybe she wouldn't have been stuck there for so long! Well?'

'Robbie, it wasn't like that…' Rufus managed to say before someone charged in past Ayla and Feenie to break up the argument.

'Stop shouting. This isn't going to help. Feenie's safe, Robbie, that's what matters and no one wanted you to get in danger as well. Then everything would have been ruined.' said John Jones in his deep, commanding voice.

Robbie slumped as though all his energy had drained. 'Sorry, guys.'

'Don't worry.' said Rufus, though he still looked a bit wary of him.

'You all need to get some sleep. We're leaving tomorrow.' John Jones announced.

* * *

Their shuttle bus was a small minibus, but they still each got a row of seats to themselves. They were going to Los Angeles, and Hollywood specifically. But each agent was going to get dropped off at a different location along the way, so that it seemed as though they were all coming from different families. Ayla had received her new identity card just before they left early in the morning, which she was meant to be memorising before they got to Hollywood.

_Name: Olivia Alice Andrews_

_Age: 15_

_DOB: 12__th__ June 1997_

_Parents: Robert and Mary Andrews_

_From: Cambridge, England_

Hopefully she wouldn't have to give away any more information than that, because her identity forms had already been sent in by CHERUB. The journey to Hollywood would probably take approximately just under ten hours, and Ayla would have to spend quite a lot of those hours in a car with her new parents.

It turned out that they were nice enough people.

'Are you sure you don't need anything?' Robert asked her, looking back at her through the rear view mirror as they drove down a motorway.

'Yeah, thanks. I'm good.' she smiled, and stared out of the big windows at the side. The landscape was racing past. 'Actually, could you put on some music?'

Mary Andrews turned the dial on the car radio and Johnny Cash began to echo around the car.

_If I could start again _

_A million miles away _

_I would keep myself _

_I would find a way _

Ayla opened her window and the wind rushed in, tangling her now brown hair behind her. She didn't realise Robert and Mary Andrews were staring back in awe at her through the mirror, wondering how this teenage girl could be working for the British Government and at the same time fast enough to run in a television show.

She was busy thinking of Aaron, and enjoying this calm before the stress of the mission.

* * *

A young women in her 30s greeted Ayla, Robert and Mary when they reached the site of the filming studios in Hollywood. She reassured them that they would be allowed contact often enough, because the parents would be staying on site but in a separate building to Ayla. Then they were ushered inside, into the entrance lobby of the studios of the programme, and through to a spacious room filled with comfortable sofas. There were cameras everywhere, but Ayla was told that they were not yet filming.

'This is the main communal room,' said the woman, Melissa, as they walked towards people sitting in smaller groups on the sofas. 'And most of the other contestants are already here.'

Ayla surveyed the mix of parents and teenagers seated before her. Several of them looked up as she approached, although most were engaged in conversations. Very few families were interacting.

'Everyone, this is Olivia, Robert and Mary Andrews.' announced Melissa to the room at large. Suddenly Ayla spotted Feenie with her fake parents, and caught her eye even though they could not show any recognition. Everyone nodded at her or mumbled a greeting. She guessed that everyone was a little nervous and suspicious at the same time.

When would Rufus and Robbie be arriving? She remembered all of a sudden that she still did not know who had kidnapped Feenie, and that she knew next to nothing about what had happened to her. What if the kidnappers were still after them? Then wouldn't Rufus and Robbie be in danger, because they were still exposed to the outside? Almost as she thought this, the two boys entered with their fake parents, posing as non-identical twins because they both had brown curly hair. She let out a silent sigh of relief as she sat down with Mary and Robert.

'You excited?' Mary asked with a smile, squeezing Ayla's hand.

She had to admit that her fake parents were both excellent actors, as they engaged in small talk about the show. Soon enough, Melissa said that everyone was present, and then Alexis Jen Jr. himself walked into the room, with two men at his sides.

'Good afternoon, everyone. I'm Alexis Jen Jr., the founder of this TV show, and I hope you're all comfortable.'

The first thought as Ayla watched him, was that he didn't look like a dangerous drug dealer. He was short and stocky to the point of chubby. His jet black hair was slicked back. The only thing that showed his intelligence was his sharp, glittering dark eyes. But then again he was the top of the black market, so he must have kept his hands away from the dirty work.

'Cameras will start rolling tomorrow morning, when you're all woken up by your alarms. Then everything will be clear. Parents, you get time with the teenagers in the early evening, other than that keep away from the cameras. You can leave the facility whenever you want. Teenagers, just follow instructions. So, we start filming tomorrow. Follow Melissa here to find where you are staying, and then teenagers will have a short introduction session before dinner. I will be seeing you tomorrow, as I have…business to attend to. Enjoy yourselves.'

And just like that, Alexis Jen Jr. left the room the way he came. Ayla glanced at Robert and Mary briefly.

'I guess we'll follow Melissa, then.' Robert said unsurely. Ayla could tell that they were nervous about this whole thing because the British Government were investigating it.

'Parents, follow Annie here to your accommodation. You will be having dinner separately to your kids so say goodnight now. Teenagers will be staying here with me for introductions.' Melissa commanded everyone.

Mary turned to Ayla. 'Well, good luck tomorrow.'

'We'll see you tomorrow evening.' Robert smiled. 'Good luck.'

And Ayla could tell that they meant it.

Soon it was just the teenagers left sitting on the sofas. She looked around. Everyone was lean and muscled, the result of long-distance running training. There were only eight competitors in total, four boys and four girls, which made her feel much better because it meant that 50% of them were CHERUBs. They formed a circle on some sofas with Melissa, and Ayla saw Feenie directly opposite her.

'Well, let's start with introductions. We'll go around the circle and everyone can say their name.' Ayla noticed that Melissa had dropped her formal, professional approach, and had become friendlier. She was obviously skilled at dealing with people. The girl on the right of Melissa began.

'I'm Jada Lawrence.' she said, giving everyone a wide smile. She had smooth, dark skin and curly hair tied back. She was definitely American. Jada turned to the boy next to her.

'My name's Nathan Jameson.' he said in a Scottish accent. He had brown hair and freckles. Next was Feenie.

'I'm Chloe Wright.' she smiled, glancing briefly at Ayla, who was trying to commit the name to memory. Unfortunately they could not use their normal first names, because if anyone recognised them slightly after this then having the same first name would be too big a coincidence.

Then it was Rufus and Robbie.

'I'm Justin Phillips, this is Chris.' said Rufus to the group.

'We're brothers.' Robbie said, just to clear things up in case anybody hadn't realised.

Then it was another girl.

'Hi, I'm Taylor Demasi.' Another American. This one didn't look so friendly. She had straight blonde hair and a pretty pout, paired with cold eyes. Ayla suspected she was more competitive. She didn't smile, just looked around at everyone. Ayla caught Rufus's eye, and he looked like he knew exactly what Ayla was thinking.

'I'm Brandon Rockwell.' said the final guy. He was really tall, with dark skin and really short hair. He looked pretty friendly, but also like he would be tough opposition. Ayla was pleased that the other girls weren't huge.

Then it was her turn.

'Hey, I'm-Olivia Andrews.' she just about managed, almost completely giving away her identity. Shit! She needed to be more careful. If she didn't think carefully, they would all end up dead or worse.

**A/N: Hope you enjoyed this! Please review it will make my day! Muse was awesomeeee last night:D**


	31. Technique

**A/N: This was quite a quick update so I hope you like it, but there might be mistakes! Sorry, hope you enjoy :)**

31. TECHNIQUE

The next morning, they were woken up early by phone calls to their rooms. Everyone had their own room. Ayla's room was medium-sized and set up like a hotel room, even though it was actually in a big bungalow thing along with everyone else's. She noticed a camera just above her door, with some trepidation. Trying not to watch it too much, she changed into a running uniform in the bathroom, which was camera-free, and then headed to the room where they had eaten dinner the previous night. That had been slightly awkward, because she couldn't become too friendly with Feenie, Rufus and Robbie too quickly.

There were cameras everywhere, so she was sure that she was being filmed as she walked to breakfast, although she wasn't sure why people would want to watch that. Luckily she wasn't the first to breakfast, arriving just after Feenie. That meant she could sit next to Feenie without it being strange. They were at a long table, piled with lots of different food. Alexis Jen Jr. must be rich if he can afford all this food just for some teenagers, Ayla thought. But then again they were runners, so they needed their energy.

Once everyone was present and eating, a man came into the room and sat at the head of the table. He was quite tall and skinny for an adult, but Ayla could tell that it was from running. He began to speak as they ate.

'Hey, everyone.' He had an easy American accent. 'I'm Andy, I'm your coach. I've trained some of the US National Athletics Team. It's my job to train you all to the best of your abilities. Then three judges will compare your skill at the end of each week, and they'll decide who to send home. Everyone needs to eat a good breakfast because we have a long day ahead of us. A long week, in fact. Alright.'

Andy seemed pretty cool to Ayla. She had never had a real running coach before, so she was excited to see what he would say about her style. She found herself slightly forgetting that this was a mission, and instead focusing on the purpose of the show.

After eating they were lead to the track, which was behind the block of buildings. It was outdoors but the best track she had ever seen, even better than CHERUB's, which was awesome.

'So, Olivia, do you like the track?' Ayla heard someone say from behind her. She just about remembered to turn and respond to her fake name.

'I think it's awesome.' she replied, realising she was talking to Andy and also that there were three different large cameras pointing at her face. She tried not to look at them, instead focusing on his smiling face.

'That's great, cause you'll be running on it in about half an hour. Stretches first, everyone!' He called to the group at large. Ayla still hadn't talked to anyone else, so it was weird when they were put into partners for stretching. Instead of Feenie, Ayla was paired with Jada Lawrence. Robbie and Rufus were also split up.

'Hey, I'm Jada.' the girl smiled.

'I know,' Ayla grinned back, acting friendly for the benefit of the cameras. But Jada really did seem cool.

'So you nervous or excited, Olivia?' she asked.

'Bit of both.' Ayla shrugged as she stretched her calves. 'The cameras are scary.'

Jada laughed loudly. 'Yeah, I get what you mean. But this should be fun, right?'

They stretched every part of them, until Ayla's limbs felt so loose she could just fall over. But the constantly present cameras were keeping her alert, so she also felt excited for training. What if she went out in the first week? These kids were top class. World class, pretty much. But she couldn't think about that now. She was tougher than them. She had survived 100 days of Basic Training, not that long ago. She could do anything.

Andy began by warming them up with a brisk 6,000m jog around the track. Ayla got the feel of everyone's speed and technique, without doing much work herself. Jada was good. She felt a little sorry for Feenie and Taylor Demasi, because they were both more sprinters, but she was also sure that they would be good on sprint finishes. The quickness of the boys didn't matter to her because she would only ever be racing against the girls. The judges would decide who will go through according to how close each person was to the world record of their gender. So things were pretty serious.

'Today is warm-up day. We won't do too much work, but that means tomorrow will be much harder.' Andy told them. 'I'll check out your techniques today.'

Eight treadmills were set up in the central grassy area inside the track. The teenagers would be doing a steady 10,000m with Andy watching each person in turn after 5,000m, because that was the point when their technique would mess up.

When it was Ayla's turn to be watched, she felt herself automatically speed up and try to run cleanly. That was why they were on treadmills.

'Olivia, slow up. Steady.' Andy said, looking at her 1km time split.

'Sorry,' she panted, falling back into the steady pattern. He watched her with narrowed eyes.

'Olivia. Keep your eyes ahead of you. Shoulders down.'

'Ok,' Ayla nodded, adjusting her style.

'Better.' Andy said, and moved on to the next person. She watched him go, breathing fast, feeling a little disappointed. She had expected him to say more. But this was not the time to be wanting special treatment. She was on a mission, wasn't she? The shorter the time the cameras were on her, the better. That meant that she would have to really try to follow Andy's tips so that he wouldn't talk to her so much. Ayla decided to stay out of the cameras as much as possible. She would speak selectively and try not to draw attention to herself. The problem was that she needed to train hard without winning. That was impossible. Well, she would see how fast the others really were, but she felt pretty good. In races, she would have to try her best even if that meant more cameras were on her.

In the evening, after several more hours of technique drills and some breaks for food, she found herself greeting Mary and Robert Andrews. She hugged them for the sake of the cameras.

'How was your first day?' Robert asked.

'Really good! You?'

'We've just been visiting the sights here in Hollywood. It's amazing. We should definitely come here again in the summer. You'll love the studios.' said Mary.

Again, Ayla couldn't help smiling at her acting skills.

'Ooh, yes please! That would be so cool. I should probably go shower now, Mum.' Ayla said. She suddenly felt a pang in her heart. Mum. Hers had abandoned her and here she was, pretending she actually had a mum. It looked like Mary had seen her hesitate, so she replied quickly.

'Of course, honey. We'll maybe see you again tonight, or tomorrow?'

'Yeah.' Ayla managed to choke out. 'Bye, Mum, Dad.'

'See you later, Livvy!' Robert grinned, waving.

Ayla turned away from them and ran back to her room, hiding her face from the cameras. She slammed the door to the bathroom, sitting down on the toilet seat, safe in the only place without people watching her.

Why had her parents left her for death? Surely they would've realised that there was next to no chance of a baby surviving in a cardboard box in a parking lot.

And now she was working for the Government.

Now she was a top class runner.

Now she was feeling really alone.

Would they be proud of her, if they could see her?

If they saw her on TV, would they recognise her?

**A/N: Please review/follow/favourite :D **

**Thanks so much to all the reviewers so far! You guys are toooooo nice! :)**


	32. Distance

**A/N: Sorry for the delay, luckily I now have only 3 exams left! Hope you enjoy this :)**

32. DISTANCE

Ayla woke up on the morning of the final day of the week, completely shocked and slightly upset. Aaron had been in her dream. He had asked her on a date and she said yes. The feeling of waking up, alone again, was hurting her. She missed Aaron and how safe she felt with him. If only he had worked harder at running, he might have come on this mission with her.

A thought occurred to Ayla that she wasn't entirely proud of. If she gave up during the race today, if she threw it…she would be back with Aaron by tomorrow.

She reminded herself of the whole purpose of being here. Throwing the race would leave CHERUB with a much lower chance of finding out whether or not this drug was legal. So technically, if Ayla deliberately failed to assist CHERUB, then she would be obstructing them. She wasn't sure what that would lead to. And then Aaron might be on a mission when she got back to campus. He might not like her any more. A lot could change. What would he think of her, for failing on the first week?

She steeled herself to try as hard as she could today. Abandoning all thoughts of loneliness, she tried to relax and focus on the race ahead. At breakfast, Andy reminded them that today was Race Day. As if anyone would have forgotten. They were allowed to do their own choice of warm-ups.

Ayla explained hers to the cameras before she began. She started with stretches before just doing a long, steady run. She needed to get some distance in because the race was only 5,000m. That wasn't very long for her, nowadays. There would be no way she could sprint any of that if she didn't run a long way beforehand.

At midday, Andy called them all in.

'Are you all feeling ready?'

Everyone nodded.

'Right, seeing as this is the first race of the programme, I'll do some explaining.' he said. There were about ten cameras surrounding them. Ayla trained her eyes on Andy. 'Today, the girls will be racing first. It's 5,000m. You all know how many laps and where to finish? So, we'll be timing you and remember even if you come last in your race it could be someone else in the other race who goes home, because we compare your times to world records. Don't panic. Remember what I've told you. This is not the biggest race you'll be doing – but don't completely relax. Treat it as a qualifier. Good luck, everyone.'

As Ayla calmed herself down at her starting place, all that she could see was Aaron's face on that Skype call. They were thousands of miles apart. The distance she was about to run was nothing compared to that. And if she ran it fast enough, then maybe he would like her. He might even watch this on television. He might watch this race and be amazed by her speed. She had to try her hardest, even if this was only a qualifier. She couldn't go out now. She just couldn't.

'On your marks.' called Andy in a megaphone.

Ayla's palms were on the verge of shaking. She leaned forward on the line, bending one leg in the ready position. Her legs were burning full of power. Eyes ahead, she reminded herself. The opposition didn't exist in her eyes. She was racing the clock.

'Get set.'

She blinked once. Aaron.

'Go!'

Everything was blurry. She felt numb. It was like a practice, but the adrenaline was there, firing her legs. And then she relaxed.

_This is how I show my love_

_I blame on my mind because_

_I blame it on my A.D.D. baby_

Her legs were moving in time with the music throbbing inside her head. She was enjoying this. Where was she? Everything was stilted in her vision. Turning the corner of the track. It was effortless. Look forward. Shoulders back. Keep moving. But everything was in time, and she had never run this smoothly in her life.

5,000m was not a long distance.

She was on the inside lane of the track now, running in the slipstream of the others. She was last. That didn't matter. They didn't get it. Taylor and Feenie were sprinters, so they started off fast. Jada was solid the whole way. And then Ayla…she was solid at the beginning, and lethal at the end. The perfect combination.

They would never see her coming.

She moved around another bend with ease. Now it was becoming too slow. She needed to speed up. She needed to free her legs. They were moving too slowly.

Ayla's muscles screamed as she sped up, but she couldn't hear them.

Past Taylor first. Now she was in the middle of the pack. She knew the viewers would be cheering and she wanted to give them something to be excited about. She dodged Feenie, careful not to look at her encouragingly. Besides, she was in her own race.

Now there was only Jada, in her own bubble of speed slightly ahead of Ayla.

Ayla had a choice.

They were three quarters of the way through. She could either throw the race and come second by simply not sprint finishing – this might be better in terms of her future career. Or she could sprint finish and improve her running.

CHERUB or running.

CHERUB or running?

But then Ayla's body reacted as it had been trained to. She was on the final lap now and her legs were moving quicker. Overtaking Jada would be no problem at all, she realised.

Running.

_Sail with me into the dark_

_Sail!_

_Sail with me into the dark_

_Sail!_

_Sail with me into the dark_

_Sail!_

_Sail with me into the dark_

_Sail!_

_Sail with me into the dark_

_Sail! _

And suddenly she was crossing the finishing line, a good fifteen metres ahead of Jada, and she could finally feel her muscles again. Andy gave her a high-five, stopwatches bouncing against his chest as he ran up to her. Her mouth stretched into a smile. She shook out her legs and couldn't help feeling disappointment that this wasn't a bigger competition.

On the bright side, she definitely wasn't going home this week.

* * *

Back at the CHERUB campus on the following Tuesday, Ed, Aaron and Jason were watching Ayla win the race on the TV in Ed's room. Rose and Lydia were on missions.

'You pleased, Aaron?' Jason grinned as Ayla crossed the line. Aaron shot him a warning glance.

'Shut up, man.' But inside he was just wishing that he was there too, and he could hug her in congratulations.

**A/N: Please review if you want to read more! :D**


	33. Agony

**A/N: Hey, sorry for the wait! Hope it's worth it...**

33. AGONY

So on the first week, Taylor Demasi went home. Ayla was proud of the CHERUBs for sticking in there; now they outnumbered the others. She couldn't help wanting to give up, when it was late at night and she couldn't stop thinking about Aaron. All that kept her going was the fact that she had to put her duty first, and also that running was what she wanted to do. She ended up working even harder than usual, much harder than the others, so that she could feel the improvement coursing and burning through her muscles whenever she started training.

On the second week, Ayla won again, this time more smoothly, with less effort. Nathan Jameson went home, so that meant that there were twice as many CHERUBs as others. There were also two weeks left before the drug would be supposedly used on them. Mary Andrews managed to slip a note into her bathroom from CHERUB, which said that they were all doing great and to keep it up. Ayla kept it in her eye line so that every morning she would get some motivation.

The third week was particularly intense. They were including weights and core in their workouts, and Ayla knew Feenie was really feeling the brunt of it. She was skinnier than Ayla, as well as less motivated, which was a lethal combination when it came down to who would end up on top. Unfortunately Jada Lawrence continued to beat Feenie, which meant that at the end of the week it was likely to be her who went home.

The race day came, and Ayla knew Feenie was exhausted. She managed to get paired with her for stretches, and tried to give her some inspiration to pass the pain, but this seemed worse than basic training. There were constant cameras and attention when you needed them the least. Ayla approached the starting line feeling slightly apprehensive. If Feenie went home this week, which was likely, then that meant at least that two CHERUBs would definitely make it to the weeks that they needed. Would that be enough?

By now the race was almost like a routine for Ayla. She brushed stray strands of dark hair away from her face as she stared down the straight part of the track. Feenie and Jada were getting ready next to her. There was a slight breeze which tickled the hairs standing up on the back of her legs. She could feel her leg muscles already screaming from the warm up alone. She had clocked up maybe too many miles this week. But it was all worth it. All of it would improve her. All she had to do was fight through the pain, to success.

'On your marks,'

'Get set,'

'GO!'

It all seemed to happen far too quickly for her mind to follow. Suddenly she was running, and it was hard. She settled into a steady stride just behind Jada. Her hair was whipping into her face too much. She should have cut it short or something. There were blisters growing on the sides of her feet, from too many steps in the same shoes.

For some reason she could feel her body failing on her.

_Shit._

The pain was clouding her thoughts. It was far too early in the race for this.

'Come on, Olivia!' she heard from somewhere nearby.

_A song._

That was what she needed. But nothing was playing in her head. No tracks. All pain.

The pain was just in her body. What she needed to do was to get her mind back. She blinked quickly, concentrating on her breathing pattern. Her vision cleared slightly and she was able to almost forget about the pain searing her feet, her legs, her lungs.

Suddenly, just ahead of her, Jada stumbled on something.

She didn't fall. She kept on running. But Ayla was disconcerted. She felt her mind moving to concentrate on a steady pace. Her eyes moved down to watch her feet.

'Look ahead of you!' she could almost hear. It might have been inside her head, maybe not.

And now was the point in the race when she should be moving ahead. She managed to gain a small amount of metres, with her mind and body ready to collapse.

But then something happened and the next thing she knew, she was rolling on the hard ground of the track, clutching her knee, screaming in sheer agony as the pain exploded in her leg.

The surroundings swam into view in her vision. White washed walls, a potted plant in the corner, and a window with floating translucent curtains.

'Nooooo…' she moaned, rubbing her eyes in the white duvet. There was noise from the door to her left and then a young doctor entered.

'Ayla, you're awake. Excellent.' he said with a friendly smile.

'Oh, god…' she mumbled into the blanket, feeling tears begin to prick at her eyes.

'Hey, hey, it's ok. You're alright now. Do you know where you are?'

She nodded miserably. 'Back at CHERUB.'

'That's right. Now, you need some food. You've been out for almost a day.' he told her.

'A day…so it's all over, then? No more mission? I'm done?' she asked, feeling the tight grip of failure and disappointment growing in her throat.

'I'm so sorry. I'm so, so, sorry. ' he said, offering a small, forced smile of pity.

'It's not your fault…it's mine.' Ayla said, realisation triggering a stream of tears spilling over her face. It was her. She was the one who had over trained. All of her body and mind had protested but she was the one who had kept going. Why should she have a punishment for keeping going? Why was it that she had been the most dedicated, and she was the one who got injured?

'Look, it was a combination of things. Listen, I know it's not fair. But that's not the last mission you'll have. You're young. Talented, obviously. And so determined that nothing can stop you.' he murmured, patting her duvet.

'It's not the mission. Actually, it is. It's everything. I just wanted to run.'

'Ayla, let me tell you something. I watched that programme you were in. I think everyone on campus did. A lot of people in the world were watching. And one thing we could all agree on, was that you were special.'

'Is it over?' she asked in a small voice.

'It's not over.' he said, with a shake of his head. 'Give it a couple of months. I know – but a couple of months is worth it when you think of what could have happened.'

'So what did I actually do?' Ayla questioned, sniffing and sitting up in the bed.

'You twisted your knee cap out of shape. We've set it in a cast which can't come off for a while. You passed out from the pain on the track, which I'm sure gave the show lots of drama and attention, and then we administered you with anaesthetic so we could get it back in its socket.'

'So I have a cast.'

'And crutches for a week. The cast is staying on for about a month. After that, we can take it off but you need to be careful, which means no training for another month. Then, hopefully, we can put you on a training course to get you fit again.'

'I can't do sport for two months?' she asked incredulously.

'Well, we've thought about this, and swimming might be an option. No breaststroke, though.'

'Alright. I guess this could all be a thousand times worse.'

'You're right there.' he replied.

The next morning Ayla hobbled out of the lift and into the corridor where her room was, moving awkwardly in her new crutches. She fished for the key in her pocket, which must have made a lot of jangling noise because Ed came rushing out of his room.

'Ay! You're back!' he shouted, running over and awkwardly embracing her around the crutches. The shout seemed to carry, as Jason came out a little further down the corridor.

'Ayla! Thank God you're ok.' he said as he came over. He clapped her on the back. 'How you feelin?'

'Not great.' she said, managing a smile. 'Could be worse, though.'

'Well, welcome to the non-mission crew.' Ed said cheerfully.

'What do you mean?'

'We're basically the only ones who aren't on missions.' Jason said, watching her expression carefully. She considered this. So Aaron… 'He's away.' Jason added, a smirk crossing his face.

'How long?'

'Back soon enough.'

'What are you guys talking about?' Ed asked cluelessly.

'Doesn't matter.' Ayla said quickly. 'I should get some rest. The walk from the hospital was way harder than it should have been.'

'I'll see you later.' Ed smiled.

'Later, Ayla.'

**A/N: The failure needed to happen at some point! Let me know what you thought :)**


	34. Home

**A/N: Sorry for the brief lapse in updates! This is extra long and will probably make you happy so I hope you enjoy :)**

34. HOME

Ayla soon got used to the daily routine back at CHERUB. Most of her classes were one on one, with so many people on missions, so she was quickly catching up on all the work she had missed. She visited the doctor on campus a couple of times a week, so that he could check up on how her knee was healing. Most of her free time was spent with Ed and, surprisingly, Jason, who she was getting to know much better now. He was sarcastic, funny, full of himself, extremely complimentary of his best friend Aaron, and charming. One by one, her friends began to return to campus from both successful and unsuccessful missions. It was almost June, and most people finished missions before the summer so that they could go to the CHERUB Summer Hostel in July. That was a good incentive for finishing a mission early. So the CHERUB campus was slowly filling up again. There was no sign of Aaron yet, though, and Jason hadn't heard anything from him because apparently he was on a really important mission.

The best day was when Rose and Lydia returned from their joint mission.

'Ayla! Oh my God, how are you?'

'We heard what happened, it was all over the TV, they must have got so much publicity for it.'

'Yeah, they filmed it so dramatically as well.'

'Especially with your screaming!'

'But anyway, are you OK?'

'Yeah, what's going on?'

Ayla smiled as she finally got a chance to talk.

'Hey, guys. Yeah, I'm alright. That sounds cool. How was your mission?'

'It was awesome…we went to Australia!' Rose exclaimed.

'Yeah, I tried out my accent, it was sick.' laughed Lyddie.

'You guys look tanned.'

'Thanks!'

'When are you gonna dye your hair blonde again, Ay?'

'Next week, hopefully.'

They ran upstairs to Ayla's room, to catch up on any gossip and anything she had missed earlier. She told them everything about the TV show, and then they actually watched the latest episode on the television, with Ed and Jason too. Unfortunately Rufus was the second CHERUB to leave, which meant that it was Feenie and Robbie who would be subjected to the drugs. At least they had reached their most basic mission goal; to actually have some agents in the final few weeks. Rose seemed verging on pleased that Rufus had gone out, and Ayla thought she knew why. There was something big coming up soon, at the end of June, just before they would all go to the Summer Hostel.

The CHERUBs called it the Summer Dance.

The next week, three quarters of all the CHERUBS were present on campus. Rufus returned early on Monday morning, where Ayla gave him an empathetic hug and they ate a couple of tubs of ice cream. On Tuesday evening, Ayla, Rose, Lyddie, Rufus, Ed and Jason gathered to watch the newest episode of 'No Limits'. They all squished together on the floor. The episode began well, as both Feenie and Robbie seemed to be concentrating well. Unfortunately, just as Feenie was lining up for her one on one race with Jada, someone knocked on the door. They were in Jason's room, and he was the one to answer the door.

The next thing Ayla knew, she could hear Aaron's voice.

'Jason!'

'Aaron, mate.'

She looked over her shoulder to see the two guys hugging in the doorway. Jason broke away and glanced back at Ayla as if to say, 'Surprise!' She glared at him quickly, but really couldn't tear her eyes away from Aaron's face. His eyes flickered towards her face for the briefest moment, before he stepped inside past Jason and waved at everyone.

'Hey, Aaron.' Rose grinned. Everyone nodded at him. He didn't look at Ayla again.

'I'm kind of tired. I'm gonna go to my room now,' he replied, and then added to Jason: 'See you tomorrow, man.'

Jason closed the door behind him and sat back down. Ayla felt a lump in her throat as she stood up carefully on her crutches.

'Actually, I think I'm going to sleep now, as well.' she said to the room, careful not to betray any emotion in her voice.

'You sure you don't want to see the end of Feenie's race?' Lyddie asked. On the TV, Feenie was just pulling ahead of Jada, but there was still a while left to go. Ayla shook her head, accidentally locking eyes with Jason. She could see from his expression that he knew exactly what was going through her mind. She turned away quickly, hobbling out of the room and down the corridor.

'Ayla! Wait!'

Ayla looked back, unsurprised but still annoyed.

'Go away, Jason.'

'Wait. I'm not sure what's going on either.' he pleaded.

'It's obvious. He doesn't like me.' she said, unable to stop her face from crumpling.

'Hey, Ayla. I'm sorry, but I don't think that's true at all.' Jason said, in a tone that showed he wasn't sorry at all.

'Why else would he be ignoring me?'

'Because he's scared of you. You turned him down, remember? He doesn't want to like you.'

Ayla grimaced. 'That's not good.'

'Nope. But I'll work on it. See you tomorrow.' he clapped her on the back and set off back down the corridor. Ayla shook her head and opened her bedroom door, before looking back at him.

'Thanks, Jason.'

'Not a problem.'

That week was a strange one. Almost everyone was back, so Ayla's classes were very full. This also meant that she was sitting next to Aaron in most of them again. But he wasn't talking to her very much.

'Hey, Aaron.' she smiled, sitting down in Maths.

'Morning.' he mumbled.

'How did your mission go?'

'It was fine. Quick.' he replied.

'That's good.'

He never started a conversation and he never asked her anything. He didn't ask her about her mission once. She went to Jason for help again a few days later because she was so frustrated. She had to corner him in the corridor, because now Aaron was back she didn't get much chance to speak with him.

'Jason!'

'Ayla, what's up?'

'Aaron is properly ignoring me now.'

Jason sighed. 'Oh, Ayla. Don't worry about it, mate.'

'Why? I like him!' she exclaimed.

'He needs some time.' Jason shrugged.

'Time for what?'

'Time for thinking.'

It was the final week of June and all the boys were asking girls to the Summer Dance. Ayla and Lyddie managed to lock Rufus and Rose in a room together and apparently he had only asked her when she had begun to crawl out of the window. Theo came back, as well, and so did Robbie and Feenie. They had been successful – managing to throw the competition so that they got a sample of the illegal drug and also didn't win. This meant that they would probably be more easily forgotten about on the news. According to Feenie, Alexis Jen Jr had been arrested and the illegal sports drug section of the black market officially closed down.

Then Ayla got her crutches taken away, so she was just left with a knee brace. It was much easier to move around and she could walk properly again finally.

The most drama of that week coming up to the Dance, however, happened in Ayla's next Maths class. Her, Rose and Lydia were crowded around her desk, being some of the first in the classroom.

'Come on, Ayla. It's gonna be awesome.' Rose smiled.

'A dance? I don't think so. I can't dance.' Ayla folded her arms. Plus Aaron didn't like her, so no one would ask her, she thought.

Rose gave Lydia the look. 'Come on, please. If someone asks you will you go with them?'

She frowned. 'But no one's gonna ask me! Drop it, Rose.'

'What if I ask you?' grinned Lyddie. Ayla rolled her eyes.

'No thanks.'

'Seriously, though, what will you do if someone asks you?' Lydia looked quizzically at her.

'Um, hide? Melt into a wall, or fake a heart attack? I don't know.' she shrugged. Unless it was Aaron, of course.

'It will be fun! We can go into town and buy dresses together! Pleeease.' Rose pouted.

'Okay, I would need a dress. I just can't be arsed!' Ayla laughed.

'We'll talk about this later.' said Lydia, giving her a meaningful look, and they both walked back to their desks as Aaron and Jason came in. Aaron sat down next to Ayla, and Jason leaned across the aisle towards her.

'So, Ayla, anyone asked you to this dance yet?' he grinned.

Aaron stopped unpacking and glared at him. She stifled a grin. What was going on?

'Um, no.' she said. She could feel Rose's eyes on the back of her head.

Jason smiled. 'That's good. I'll just leave you two to talk, then.' he turned away and started talking to the guys next to him. Ayla stared him down until he looked back and winked at her. She mouthed 'What?' at him, but he turned away again.

Aaron looked at her. 'Sorry 'bout him.'

She couldn't help smiling. He was talking again. 'It's cool.'

'Are you not going to the dance, then?' he asked involuntarily.

'Well, I don't know.' Ayla shrugged.

He nodded, thinking. She started shading in the corner of her Maths book. This was awkward. Just then, everyone started clapping. Ayla turned around in her seat.

'What happened?' she asked Rose.

'Christian asked Quinn to the dance and she said yes!' she grinned, nudging Quinn next to her who was bright pink. Ayla grinned.

'I told you so!' she laughed.

'Shut up…!' Quinn exclaimed embarrassedly.

'Anyone else? Anyone else?' someone was calling. Then, to everyone's surprise, Robbie turned around in his seat to ask Feenie who was sitting behind him.

'Wanna come to the dance with me?' he asked, shrugging his hair out of his face and smiling slightly. Feenie stared at him, completely bewildered.

'Um, sure.' she managed, and everyone wolf-whistled.

'Come on Aaron!' someone yelled, and Ayla was pretty sure it was Jason.

'Where's the love, Aaron?' people called.

Aaron turned around in his seat so that Ayla couldn't see his burning face. She frowned.

'Who's he gonna ask?' she said to Rose. She raised her eyebrows in disbelief.

'Seriously?!' she laughed.

'What?' Ayla demanded, as Aaron tapped her on the shoulder. She turned to him. He was looking embarrassed but a little smile was tugging at the corners of his mouth.

'Go to the dance with me?' he asked. Ayla's heart stopped.

'Shit, I think I'm actually having a heart attack.' she managed to say to Rose. She cracked up. Aaron looked confused.

'Is that a yes?' he asked. Everyone waited.

'Was that a question?' Ayla asked, eyes wider than usual.

Everyone groaned.

'Come on, Ayla!' someone called.

'Yes.' murmured Aaron, staring into her eyes. Ayla shifted towards him in her seat.

'Yes.' she said, hardly believing her ears. But then again, how could she ever say no to Aaron?

He grinned, a handsome smile stretching his cheeks as everyone cheered. Ayla smiled shyly as well. In a couple of days they would be dancing together…maybe she could get out of the dancing part. That bit wouldn't be fun.

'Looks like you're coming dress shopping with me and Lyddie after all.' grinned Rose, as she leant over her desk towards them. Aaron was still staring at her. Rose looked at him. 'Don't kiss her now; it'd be awkward for all of us.'

Aaron tore his eyes away from Ayla's to fist bump Jason, who had personally walked across the aisle to congratulate them.

'I'm still not happy about you not dancing with me, man, but you could do a lot worse.' Jason winked at Ayla.

Aaron glanced at her. 'I couldn't do any better.' he grinned. Once Jason was done fake vomiting, Ayla beckoned him closer then whispered something in his ear.

'So when are you planning on asking Eve, huh?'

He pulled away from her ear, eyes wide, and looked down the classroom to where she was sitting as if to make sure no one else was asking her to the dance. Ayla raised her eyebrows and Aaron looked confused.

'What's up?' he asked.

'Maybe you should ask Jason, after this lesson.' she said, glancing at Jason. He looked resigned to tell Aaron, and maybe slightly happy, and walked back to his seat. Aaron looked at Ayla again, and then made sure no one was watching them anymore.

'It's true. I do really like you.' he whispered to her.

Ayla stared at him. 'Save it for Wednesday, or now?' she asked him.

'Now.' he muttered, and took her hand. There was something twinkling in his eyes as he stared at her. Lee was asking Beth to the dance at the back of the classroom, so no one was watching when Aaron and Ayla leaned closer towards each other. She watched his face come closer until she could count his eyelashes. Then he kissed her, and her eyes shut. His lips seemed to melt her insides.

'No kissing in Maths class.' said a voice above them, and suddenly everyone was laughing. Aaron and Ayla quickly broke apart, blushing. Mr Richards was raising an eyebrow at them. The whole class was watching.

'Sorry sir.' Aaron muttered hoarsely, a little affected by our kiss, Ayla thought and hoped. Richards looked at him disapprovingly.

'I have to say, I preferred it when all you did was come in late.' he said as he unpacked his bag. Aaron's face was red, and Ayla imagined hers was too. Rose was poking her back with her ruler but she didn't dare turn around now that Richards was already a cross between annoyed and amused with her and Aaron. Eventually everyone settled down, and the class began. Ayla looked back at Aaron for the first time since they had kissed. He was already looking at her, the beginnings of a grin flickering on his face. He reached under the desk to hold her hand, and they stayed like that for the entire lesson.

It was their little secret.

**A/N: Please review :)**


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